Dear KAG: 20200812 Open Thread

Via LIFELOG – COVID Update
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Coronavirus Update 8/12/2020 – Canceling college football
BTHO COVID-19
In Texas cases are still very high. We have been in the 8,000 case range for sometime. So they have leveled off but still at a high level. Also deaths at 203 which is also pretty stable. The mortality rate is slowly rising now at 1.7%.
If you want to see your local numbers look at the link below.
*https://coronavirus.1point3acres.com/en
For the newbies we have been predicting an overall fatality rate somewhere in the 0.3 to 0.7 range when we finally correct the denominator.
First since everyone is asking what I did to hurt my finger. I hurt my finger out on my wake surf boat. It is something I enjoy doing and a nice way to get away from everything. In addition it is great for social distancing as I am usually about 20 feet from the boat! LOL
Canceling college football and other fall sports.
With the Big 10 and Pac 12 dropping the bomb today by canceling all of the fall college sports, is this the right decision? Personally, it makes no sense to me at all! I think it is way too early to make that type of drastic decision. There is certainly plenty of time to see the effects of all the kids returning to school prior to making this decision. They are saying it is ok to have tens of thousands of kids on campus but not safe to have around 100 athletes together. Just absolutely a crazy line of thinking!
Let’s see what happens when kids return to campus and start congregating. Let’s see how many athletes are testing positive vs other kids on campus. Let’s see how effective coaches are at keeping players isolated and protected with the newly issued protocols. Let’s not just punt on first down as there is way too much that can happen over the next 6 weeks.
Pushing the season to spring is ridiculous. Playing two seasons in the same calendar year is a much higher risk to the athletes short and long term health than Covid-19. So stating you are concerned about player safety is an absurd statement if you are simply trying to move the season to the spring.
In addition, what medical data or medical experts are they “listening” to? As a practicing physician for over 20 years, I don’t know any of my colleagues that agree with this quick decision. What we have learned in the past 6 months is that the risks of severe complications, hospitalizations or severe disease in that age group is tremendously low. The risk is actually lower than influenza even in that age group. The sport of college football is never without risks. There is a much higher risk of severe injury on the field than from Covid-19 in college aged kids.
The other big topic now appears to be viral myocarditis from Covid-19. While this is an actual risk it is once again a very minimal risk. The incidence of myocarditis with Covid-19 is currently unknown but it is not currently believed to likely be much more than most other viral illnesses. Let’s not forget that viral myocarditis is also a risk with over 20 other viruses like influenza, coxsackie B virus, adenovirus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, herpes virus, parvovirus B19 and enterovirus. These are all very common viral illnesses with essentially a similar risk of viral myocarditis. Athletes are exposed to these viruses every season. I am not saying these things do not occur but they are indeed rare complications. Using this as a reason to cancel the season is absurd.
So other than the coaches who are the highest risk members of the team. That would be the lineman because many are obsese and probably some have early signs of metabolic syndrome if not diabetes. So they should be the ones to isolate the most. But are they really safer in the classroom or at home with their hometown friends who are not likely being tested vs being with other players who are being frequently tested? I think you have to ask yourself that.
In addition they will have much better diets and conditioning programs with the team vs on their own.
So I agree with the ACC medical advisory group that doctors have learned enough over the past 6 months to help manage some of the risks. “We believe we can mitigate it down to a level that makes everyone safe,” Wolfe told The Daily. “Can we safely have two teams meet on the field? I would say yes. Will it be tough? Yes. Will it be expensive and hard and lots of work? For sure. But I do believe you can sufficiently mitigate the risk of bringing COVID onto the football field or into the training room at a level that’s no different than living as a student on campus.”
“You can’t tell me that running onto a football field is supposed to be a zero-risk environment,” Wolfe continued. “Look at all of the regular sporting injuries that we accept as a certain level of risk as part and parcel of football. Now the reality is that we have to accept a little bit of COVID risk to be a part of that.”
We are all going to have some risk in our lives everyday unfortunately until a vaccine is developed. There is no way to have no risk unless you live in a bubble. Unfortunately, contact with anyone has some level of risk now associated with it now. As I have said before we can’t live in fear of the virus we must respect it and do what we can to minimize our risks. But we also have to still live our lives. I like everyone else, now have some risk every day just going to work but rather than not work we have made many changes in our clinic to minimize these risks. If you want specifics you can read them here. *http://www.drcoates.net/for-your-protection.html
Our kids will fortunately have minimal risks going back to school or playing sports. The risks will be on the grandparents. As for fans in the stands, that is another discussion that actually could propose significant risks as those fans are older, in worse shape and many will actually be at high risk of severe disease if they contract Covid-19.
Last but not least is the mental impact of not having college sports. These kids have trained their whole lives for this and it is a tremendous let down to take this opportunity from them. This can lead to depression, anxiety, alcoholism, drug addiction and even suicide not just for the players but students and fans too. Throughout this pandemic the mental health side seems to be just pushed aside by the mainstream media but it is just as important as the virus itself. Let’s hope the SEC, ACC and Big-12 take their time and wait to make their decision.
Quercetin from 250mg up to 1g twice per day Remember this is a Zinc ionophore.
Vitamin D3 Take this for sure if you are deficient and I now recommend taking it as long as your values are not too high. Remember too much vitamin D can cause issues. However, if you are diagnosed with Covid-19 take 50,000IU immediately as this appears to have significant benefits.
Sleep greater than 8 hours per night
CoQ10 100-300mg per day: a potent antioxidant that potentially helps balance oxidative stress, increase vasodilation, prevent clot formation and decrease vasoconstriction.
Zinc any amount is probably good but take what you can tolerate without making you feel bad up to 40mg. You do not want to be Zinc deficient as it is how many drugs like HCQ work.
Melatonin 0.1mg to 10mg at night. Take what you can tolerate and what helps you sleep without making you feel drugged or tired in the morning. If you are diabetic watch your sugars.
N-acetylcysteine (NAC) – 600mg twice per day shown to decrease severity of influenza, improve lung functions in COPD, antioxidant properties, potentially helps prevent clotting and with mental disorders. Caution for asthmatics as there is potential for bronchospasm but this is rare.
Vitamin C 250mg to 500mg twice per day. Effects debatable in oral form but IV did help in China. But is proven to strengthen immune system
Green Tea either drink some or 1 pill per day alternate zinc ionophore if you don’t have or don’t take Quercetin
Famotidine 10-20mg twice per day potentially inhibits viral replication and helps with heartburn
As always the information and understanding of COVID-19 is changing rapidly. This information is for education purposes only and you should never make changes to your health without consulting your personal physician. Make a virtual appointment with your physician and discuss your health and the best possible treatment plan for you. It is also important to reiterate that there are no clinically evidence-based integrative prevention or treatment strategies for COVID-19 infection.
Let’s all keep praying for all that are ill with this virus in the world.
Gig’em!

Wheatie tells me this is a “thing” among kids — discover a real song from 50 years before they were born and perform it.

They’re so young!!!