NHS Nightingale, The Emergency Hospital Showing How It’s Done
The title of this post, is the same as this article on The Times.
Whatever you do today, read this article.
You should be able to get a free registration to the on-line version, if all else fails.
Alert Over Child Inflammation Cases
The title of this post, is the same as that of an article on The Times.
Someone has posted this comment,
It’s Scarlet Fever. My grandson just had it . It responded instantly to antibiotics, so it can’t be viral.
Get a grip!
And this was my reply.
Strange you should mention scarlet fever.
I’m 72 and growing up in a polluted Southgate in North London from all that domestic coal smoke, I was quite a sickly child.
At about six, I caught scarlet fever and was isolated at home for about eight weeks. Strangely, it was an isolated case as my GP told my parents, that I was the only case in London.
Doctors, who I’ve discussed this with since, suspect it could have been a misdiagnosis.
But, I have another explanation.
At 50, I was found to be coeliac and I think it was an extreme reaction to gluten, perhaps brought on by the pollution. My medical records of that time have also been lost.
Not for nothing, does one doctor call coeliac disease, the many-headed hydra!
I didn’t think that scarlet fever was still about.
Nightingale Plan To Keep Hospitals Free From Coronavirus
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Britain’s Nightingale hospitals are being lined up to become the primary centres for treating Covid-19 patients as ministers announced that parts of the NHS would start reopening for routine care from this week.
It’s almost as if we’re going back to the concept of the Victorian fever hospital.
Where I lived in Southgate in North London as a child, the local hospital was Highlands, which was built with several separate blocks, with one for each different fever. It is now upmarket housing in a parkland setting.
T have three memories of treatment at the hospital.
- In the early 1950s, I had my tonsils out in the hospital, which meant a week’s stay by myself.
- My mother had her varicose veins treated there, where according to my father the surgeon was a very beautiful Indian lady, who did ward rounds in a sari.
- The hospital fixed my left humerus, when it was broken by the school bully!
Unfortunately, they didn’t do the best job to fix my arm and it has given me trouble ever since.
Smartphone-Based Testing Device Cuts Time And Cost Of Diagnostics
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the sub-title of the article.
An inexpensive and sensitive smartphone-based testing device for viral and bacterial pathogens could reduce the pressure on testing laboratories during a pandemic.
These are a few important points from the article.
- The device has been developed by researchers and engineers at the University of Illinois.
- They are aiming for a $50 price.
- They started looking for a solution to look for viral and biological pathogens in horses.
- Tests work with a nasal or blood sample.
- Tests take about half-an-hour.
If this device can be productionised, so that millions can be turned out for their target price, this will be a major weapon in the fight against COVID-19.
Apparently, there is a great advantage of using horses in the trials of the device. The horse pathogens are harmless to humans, so it lowers the risk to researchers.
Did Boris Meet The Devil?
Boris was in good form in his statement this morning.
I suspect that Boris felt a bit like I did, when I was released from Addenbrookes after my stroke. The term demob-happy comes to mind.
At some point in my recovery, I met the Devil. She told me, that I was a troublemaker and a disruptive influence! So she threw me out!
Did Boris have a similar experience?
Health Lessons From Lockdown
Are some of us learning things about ourselves during lockdown?
For myself!
Mental Health
I certainly think, that I’m handling the mental side well, as I’ve had several lockdowns in the past, usually when I want to get some software written.
Another programmer has told me, that he has used lockdowns to get software written in the past.
I am certainly getting bored though! You can only do so many serious puzzles from The Times.
Normally, if I feel bored, I get on a train or a bus and go somewhere interesting.
Exercise
I’m taking exercise regularly and go for a regular walk most days. I’d probably walk more, if I felt like taking public transport more. But, I do feel, buses and trains could be a place to catch COVID-19.
Drinking
My house tends to get a bit warm, so I’m drinking a lot.
Not strong alcohol, although there is quite a bit of 0.5% Adnams beer going down my throat, but mainly, still lemonade, tea and water.
The amount of fluid seems to have cured my periodic constipation.
On the other hand it does seem to have increased my INR, so I have reduced my Warfarin dosage from 4 to 3.5 mg. per day.
Sleep
I seem to be sleeping well! But then I always do!
Conclusion
Except for the boredom, I think, that I’m doing OK.
My First Real Telephone Consultation With A GP
Last Monday, I had my three-monthly B12 injection, as I have since I was diagnosed as a coeliac around twenty years ago.
I said that I needed to see my GP, or at least talk to him, as it was time for my Warfarin review, where we check my dose and order more tablets, as appropriate.
The receptionist said, she’ll get him to give me a call and professionally checked that they had my correct telephone number.
I’d been home about thirty minutes, when the GP phoned and we review the Warfarin and he said, he’d sent a prescription to Boots. I also told him, that my hand would need a proper examination after we’d got rid of the menace of COVID-19.
The call took about five minutes and I suspect that we’d both rate the outcome with at least four stars.
I find it strange, that in my seventy-two years, I’ve never before had a telephone consultation with a GP.
Even, when my wife and son, were dying of cancer, I never spoke to my GP at the time by phone. I did occasionally send messages by FAX to the surgery, as that was the only way to leave a message, as e-mail and text wasn’t an option.
Surely, though simple systems could be developed, so that everybody can have a telephone or video consultation with their GP, if the patient has the technical knowledge.
With my Warfarin review, I might send a message, by phone, e-mail or text, saying I need the review.
- The GP’s system might then text me to say, my phone appointment was at 14:00 on the 17th, in much the way it does now!
- I would be able to use a simple reply system to say that was OK or not!
- The doctor would hopefully be able to phone at the appropriate time.
All sorts of systems would be possible. I’m sure Zoom has something suitable.
If COVID-19 means that GP capacity is increased because of the need to social distance, so be it!
There is also the benefit, that on a wet and windy day, walking to the GP, might not be what I want to do.
What Percentage Of People In The UK Survive COVID-19?
This is only a simple analysis based on the COVID-19 statistics published on Sunday, 26th April.
- So far 152,840 people have been lab confirmed as having COVID-19.
- There has also been 20,732 deaths in hospitals.
- Suppose another 25% have died in care homes or in their own bed.
- That would give a total of 25,915 deaths.
- So rather crudely, if you get tested positive for COVID-19, you have a 17% chance of dying. What is the chance of dying from a serious stroke or breast cancer?
- On the other hand 126,925 or 83% have survived.
- Some, let’s say 20,000 are in ICU beds in hospitals, reducing the figures to 106,925 or 70% that survived.
We should be examining these seventy percent to see why they survived.
The official statistics concentrate on the negative side, but don’t publish figures like how many left hospital for convalescence at home or in an ordinary hospital ward!
Update – 27th April 2020
The actual figure of those in ICU beds yesterday was 18,667, which makes the figures 108, 258 and 71% have survived.
Trump’s Fake News
This article on the BBC is entitled Coronavirus: Trump’s Disinfectant And Sunlight Claims Fact-Checked.
This is the introductory paragraph.
President Donald Trump has questioned whether injecting people with disinfectants and exposing patients’ bodies to UV light could help treat the coronavirus.
The article then goes on to demolish Trump’s claims with the full force of scientifically-correct evidence.
Do they have whelk stalls in the United States? Trummkopf certainly doesn’t have the intelligence to run one!
Is Undiagnosed Coeliac Disease A Possible Explanation For High Deaths From Covid-19 Amongst Those Of Caribbean And Jewish Heritage?
In The Times today, they publish a list today of deaths per 100,000 people, who died in hospital from Covoid-19.
- Caribbean – 70
- Any other black – 48
- Total black – 43
- Indian – 30
- Any other Asian – 27
- All Asian – 27
- African – 27
- Overall – 26
- Pakistani – 26
- White British – 23
- Bangladeshi – 20
Some things jump out from the data,
- Those of Asian, African and Pakistani heritage have death rates similar to the general population.
- Bangladeshis do rather well, which is contrary to the expectations of some people.
- Those from the Caribbean, fare much worse than other black groups and Africans.
In the statistics, one group of immigrants were ignored. I live in Hackney and there have been a large number of Orthodox Jewish immigrants to the borough in recent years. From statements, by the Chief Rabbi, in The Times and on BBC Radio, he is worried and has closed all the synagogues under his control. Separating this group might give an insight into the data.
Recently my GP, asked if I had been vaccinated against measles, as Hackney is a measles hotspot. I haven’t been vaccinated, but I have had the disease. Apparently, the Orthodox Jewish groups have low vaccination rates.
I am also coeliac, which means I have a gluten allergy. Mine comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish line from the Baltic, but coeliac disease is also present in the Irish and some West Africans. In these three groups, historic famine seems to be the cause. Over the years, I have met several coeliacs from Jamaica and other islands in the West Indies, but never have I met any from Asia or East Africa.
Various research into coeliac disease has shown, that as many as one in a hundred of the UK population could be undiagnosed coeliacs. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was fifty, twenty years ago, so sufferers do slip through the net.
But research from Nottingham University has also shown, that coeliacs on a gluten-free diet are less likely to suffer from cancer, than the general population. Could this be because this group has a strong immune system, which gets an immune response in early on the cancer?
Undiagnosed Coeliacs And Pollution
I can speak of this with authority, as that was me as a child.
I grew up in Southgate in North London and the air was polluted with the smoke from domestic coal fires. I suffered badly and was a very unhealthy child, who regularly had three months off school.
My health improved about ten and it could have been one of three factors.
- I was exercising more, having learned to ride a bike.
- My parents had bought a house in Felixstowe, where we tended to spend lots of boring weekends and holidays.
- The Clean Air Act of 1956 had cleaned up London’s air.
My breathing certainly improved and I was a good enough athlete to make a school team at fifteen.
Recent research has shown, that there can be a link between air pollution and COVID-19. I wrote about this in Air Pollution May Be ‘Key Contributor’ To Covid-19 Deaths – Study.
These days, even in a polluted street, I don’t suffer much at all, but then I’m on a strict gluten-free diet!
Although, I do find that my breathing improves in the Spring, when we start to get longer days with lots of sunshine.
Undiagnosed Coeliacs And Strokes
I had my serious stroke because of atrial fibrillation. My father died after two serious strokes. He must have been coeliac, so were his strokes caused by the same reason as mine?
I have talked with cardiac specialists and they have felt, that my fifty years as an undiagnosed coeliac could have damaged my heart muscle to cause the atrial fibrillation.
Slavery
It would not be right to ignore slavery.
Millions of Africans were taken from West Africa to America and the Caribbean and they were probably fed nothing more than bread and water most of the time.
Did this increase the predominance of coeliac genes in those that survived the horrific treatment?
What Are The Bangladeshis Doing Right?
As a coeliac, if I’m stuck in a town, that is unknown to me and I need a meal, I’ll often go to the smartest Indian (Bangladeshi?) restaurant, as I’ve never found one with cloth tablecloths and napkins, that doesn’t do good gluten-free food. The only wheat they use is in the nans!
So has this diet given Bangladeshis a good immune system?
What Is The Figure For Jewish People?
In this article in The Times, Melanie Phillips says this.
As of last Friday, 335 British Jews had died of the virus, more than five times their proportion in the population.
Wikipedia gives the number of British Jews as 263,346 in the 2011 Census.
A rough estimate using these figures gives a figure of 127 per 100,000 of the population.
Conclusion
Could undiagnosed coeliac disease be the unexplained link as to why people with Caribbean heritage have higher deaths than those with African?
The Anonymous Widower 