At first, doctors told us that COVID-19 was a disease of the lungs. It caused inflammation of the airways and pneumonia. This made breathing difficult or impossible.
But as the pandemic progressed, something strange started to happen.
Mysterious symptoms were being reported that seemed to have nothing to do with the lungs.
Some patients were dying from COVID-19-related strokes. Others had what doctors called “COVID toes.”… Read More
The coronavirus pandemic continues to spread for one reason: Researchers have not been able to come up with a vaccine or a highly effective treatment.
A vaccine is likely to take many months, or even years, to develop. And so far, new treatments have been disappointing.
Early in the outbreak, there was hope that hydroxychloroquine might be the answer.
It’s a malaria drug that seemed to work in some patients.… Read More
Like face masks, there’s a lot of confusion about whether gloves effectively prevent coronavirus infections.
This is partly due to waffling by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It currently doesn’t recommend wearing gloves. But at one point it did.
“As a result, there’s been some confusion,” said Dr. John Whyte. He’s an internist and chief medical officer at WebMD.… Read More
It seems like we are hit with more bad news every day…
The U.S. recently passed 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, more than double of any other country… Kids missed their graduation ceremonies… Parents have lost their jobs… Clinical anxiety and depression are rampant.
There are horrific stories of the coronavirus sweeping through nursing homes, killing residents by the dozen. And there is equally heartbreaking news about doctors, nurses, and other heroes on the frontlines who gave their lives trying to save the sick.… Read More
One of the biggest challenges of the pandemic is figuring out how to exercise.
Your gym may be closed. Even if it’s open, you may not want to go there.
Team sports have been canceled.
Community pools and tennis courts have been shut down, or activities have been restricted.
Even jogging outdoors is difficult in crowded cities where distancing is not always possible.… Read More
We wipe down our door knobs. We disinfect other “high-touch” surfaces. We even worry about whether the mail is bringing coronavirus into our homes.
But it turns out that we may not need to agonize so much about whether surfaces are contaminated with the coronavirus.
As the pandemic goes on, researchers are learning more about how people get infected. And they have discovered that face-to-face transmission—not catching the virus from touching a contaminated surface—is responsible for most of the spread.… Read More