Amy Moran-Thomas, in Boston Review, on how pulse oximeters, integral to the care of a COVID19 patient, encode systemic racism.
Craig Spencer, in The Atlantic, discusses convalescent plasma politics from his very unique vantage point as both a New York ER physician, and as someone who received convalescent plasma (to treat Ebola) as an experimental treatment.
Katherine Harmon Courage, in Vox, with the lowdown on how inexpensive rapid testing might bring back a semblance of normal sooner than vaccines.
Helen Branswell, in Stat, with 4 different types of immunity and their ramifications.
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Saturday Stories: 7 Months In, Magical Thinking, Long Haulers, And Weighing Kids In School
Andrew Joseph, Helen Branswell, and Elizabeth Cooney, in STAT, review all that we currently know about COVID-19 and the pressing questions that remain
Gregg Gonsalves, in The Nation, on the mortal need to resist magical thinking.
Ed Yong (god he's fantastic), in The Atlantic (who can't be paying him enough), on the need to understand the COVID long haulers to truly understand the pandemic.
Me, in Medscape, on why I think it's an incredibly awful idea to weigh kids in schools (as is the plan in the UK) to track their COVID gains.
Gregg Gonsalves, in The Nation, on the mortal need to resist magical thinking.
Ed Yong (god he's fantastic), in The Atlantic (who can't be paying him enough), on the need to understand the COVID long haulers to truly understand the pandemic.
Me, in Medscape, on why I think it's an incredibly awful idea to weigh kids in schools (as is the plan in the UK) to track their COVID gains.
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Saturday Stories: Kids And School, The Immune System, Russian Vaccines, And Sharpies
Zoƫ Hyde, in a pre-print in The Medical Journal of Australia, with a review article covering what we do and don't know about the risks of kids, COVID, and school.
Ed Yong, in The Atlantic, with what we do and don't know about our immune systems and COVID.
Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, in The Guardian, with what we do and don't know about the new Russian COVID vaccine.
Jen Coleman, in McSweeney's, writes about Sharpies (don't miss this one)
Ed Yong, in The Atlantic, with what we do and don't know about our immune systems and COVID.
Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, in The Guardian, with what we do and don't know about the new Russian COVID vaccine.
Jen Coleman, in McSweeney's, writes about Sharpies (don't miss this one)
Saturday, August 08, 2020
Tuesday, August 04, 2020
Canada's Obesity In Adults: A Clinical Practice Guideline, Released Today, A Huge Step Forward
I'm proud to have played a small part in the release of today's Obesity In Adults: A Clinical Practice Guideline as it is the first (I think, though I'm biased) to truly take a patient-centred approach while simultaneously treating obesity like a chronic disease
Not a small endeavour, this years long effort includes chapters never before seen in any other obesity treatment guideline including those on weight bias and stigma, virtual medicine, commercial weight loss programs, living with obesity, as well as issues specific to indigenous peoples.
It explicitly steers away from diet culture (but does speak to the need for individualized medical nutrition therapy), teaches readers that neither BMI nor weight measures the presence or absence of health and introduces them to the concept that obesity should be considered a chronic disease only when excess adiposity impairs health, and it recognizes that obesity is anything but a choice.
While going through the entirety of the guideline isn't doable in a short blog post, here are the guideline's overarching summary points:
To have a peek at the CMAJ's published guideline summary, click here.
To access the guideline in its 19 chapter entirety, click here.
Not a small endeavour, this years long effort includes chapters never before seen in any other obesity treatment guideline including those on weight bias and stigma, virtual medicine, commercial weight loss programs, living with obesity, as well as issues specific to indigenous peoples.
It explicitly steers away from diet culture (but does speak to the need for individualized medical nutrition therapy), teaches readers that neither BMI nor weight measures the presence or absence of health and introduces them to the concept that obesity should be considered a chronic disease only when excess adiposity impairs health, and it recognizes that obesity is anything but a choice.
While going through the entirety of the guideline isn't doable in a short blog post, here are the guideline's overarching summary points:
- Obesity is a prevalent, complex, progressive and relapsing chronic disease, characterized by abnormal or excessive body fat (adiposity), that impairs health.
- People living with obesity face substantial bias and stigma, which contribute to increased morbidity and mortality independent of weight or body mass index.
- This guideline update reflects substantial advances in the epidemiology, determinants, pathophysiology, assessment, prevention and treatment of obesity, and shifts the focus of obesity management toward improving patient-centred health outcomes, rather than weight loss alone.
- Obesity care should be based on evidence-based principles of chronic disease management, must validate patients’ lived experiences, move beyond simplistic approaches of “eat less, move more,” and address the root drivers of obesity.
- People living with obesity should have access to evidence-informed interventions, including medical nutrition therapy, physical activity, psychological interventions, pharmacotherapy and surgery.
To have a peek at the CMAJ's published guideline summary, click here.
To access the guideline in its 19 chapter entirety, click here.
Saturday, August 01, 2020
Saturday Stories: Vaccine Reality Check, Early Warning Failure, And Maybe We Should Talk About Ventilation
Sarah Zhang, in The Atlantic, with a vaccine reality check.
Grant Robertson, in The Globe and Mail, on how Canada's pandemic early warning system failed with COVID19.
Zeynep Tufecki, in The Atlantic, wonders why we're not talking more about ventilation
Grant Robertson, in The Globe and Mail, on how Canada's pandemic early warning system failed with COVID19.
Zeynep Tufecki, in The Atlantic, wonders why we're not talking more about ventilation