HEALTH & WELLNESS

Doctors are making life-and-death choices over coronavirus patients – it could have long-term consequences for them

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Doctors are making life-and-death choices over coronavirus patients – it could have long-term consequences for them

As the coronavirus spreads and demand for medical gear far outstrips the supplies, doctors in the U.S. may have to choose who among their patients lives and who dies. Doctors in Italy have already been forced to make such moral choices. In a recent article in The New York Times, six doctors at five of the major city hospitals said they were worried they would soon have to make painful decisions regarding who should come off lifesaving ventilators. In addition to the moral anguish of this decision, they also outlined their concern about potential lawsuits or criminal charges if they went against the wishes of a patient or family. The nature of these decisions shares many parallels with those that we studied in soldiers. These decisions not only involve life-and-death consequences, but th...

Governors take charge of response to the coronavirus

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Governors take charge of response to the coronavirus

Just after every gubernatorial election, but before inaugurations, the National Governors Association organizes a two-day “New Governors School.” Current governors serve as the faculty for newly elected governors, offering a crash course in taking on states’ highest office from those with first-hand experience. It is not by chance that the first of about eight sessions focuses on “What do you do in a crisis?” One of the very first recommendations to all new governors during this session is to make their first appointment the state’s emergency preparedness agency director – not the chief of staff or even the governor’s liaison to the legislature. Those can wait. The nation’s governors know a crisis can happen the day after the inauguration and they need to be prepared. Today, the coronav...

Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 survivors know how to beat coronavirus – and researchers are already testing new treatments that harness them

Amid the chaos of an epidemic, those who survive a disease like COVID-19 carry within their bodies the secrets of an effective immune response. Virologists like me look to survivors for molecular clues that can provide a blueprint for the design of future treatments or even a vaccine. Researchers are launching trials now that involve the transfusion of blood components from people who have recovered from COVID-19 to those who are sick or at high risk. Called “convalescent-plasma therapy,” this technique can work even without doctors knowing exactly what component of the blood may be beneficial. For the pioneering work of the first treatment using therapeutic serum in 1891 (against diphtheria), Emil von Behring later earned the Nobel Prize in medicine. Anecdotal reporting of the therapy d...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

What to know about telemedicine

Telehealth and telemedicine are garnering increasing attention as high-tech avenues through which to deliver care at a distance. The American Academy of Family Physicians supports both and clarifies the two terms: “Telehealth is different from telemedicine in that it refers to a broader scope of remote health care services than telemedicine. Telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services, while telehealth can refer to remote non-clinical services.” The Washington, D.C.-based Robert Graham Center reported, citing research published last March in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, that Americans experiencing geographical or time constraint challenges, for example, may increasingly pursue health care access through a Wi-Fi/internet-connected device i...

National Guard joins the coronavirus response – 3 questions answered

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

National Guard joins the coronavirus response – 3 questions answered

As a military organization divided into 50 distinct parts that can be commanded by either the president or state governors, the National Guard is perhaps the least understood branch of the U.S. armed forces. Despite its complexity – or perhaps because of it – the National Guard is taking the lead role in the military’s response to the coronavirus outbreak crisis. As many as 10,000 National Guard members have already been activated to help communities around the country, with many more expecting a call-up soon. People may know, from TV ads or other brief appearances in the media, that National Guard members are part-time citizen-soldiers, but not much else. As a longtime National Guard attorney and military law professor, I can explain a bit more about how the National Guard works. Ads l...

Feeling overwhelmed? Approach coronavirus as a challenge to be met, not a threat to be feared

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Feeling overwhelmed? Approach coronavirus as a challenge to be met, not a threat to be feared

You have a choice to make when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. Do you treat this time as an insurmountable threat that pits you against everyone else? This option entails making decisions based solely on protecting yourself and your loved ones: stockpiling supplies regardless of what that leaves for others; continuing to host small gatherings because you’re personally at lower risk; or taking no precautions because the effort seems futile. Or do you treat the coronavirus as a collective challenge that will require shared sacrifices to achieve a difficult but not impossible goal? That option would mean taking recommended precautions: practicing social distancing, hand-washing and restricting travel. These actions might not be your most desired or convenient path as an individual, bu...

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Video: Why social distancing is one of the best tools we have to fight the coronavirus

Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. The Conversation US, CC BY This video is based on an article written by Thomas Perls, professor of Medicine at Boston University. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus – or any pathogen – cannot spread from one person to another. It helps us reduce the rate of new infections, so that new cases are spread over time and the medical care system does not get overwhelmed. Watch the video to find out more about what social distancing is, and why it’s one of the best ...

Coronavirus: News media sounded the alarm for months – but few listened

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Coronavirus: News media sounded the alarm for months – but few listened

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, China, journalists at the biggest U.S. news organizations have diligently reported on the many dangers posed by its rapid spread. Yet even as entire states – like California and New York – shut down, many Americans still don’t believe that the coronavirus is as big a deal as the news media has made it out to be. A poll conducted in mid-March found that only 56% of Americans consider the coronavirus a “real threat,” and that 38% believe that it has been “blown out of proportion.” A more recent poll similarly found that only 57% of U.S. residents see the coronavirus as “the biggest concern facing your family right now.” It’s true that there has been a lot of coverage. The New York Times has consistently documented the spread of the virus across t...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Privilege and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Since the first announcement of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States nearly a month ago, it’s still surreal. We wake up to announcements of the latest closures, social-distancing graphics and protocols, and zero-interest rates. Fears and insecurities continue to rise with our 24-hour news cycle firing off the increasing numbers of coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths, in addition to reports of vanishing toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and images of concert-goer lines outside of grocery stores. All this against the backdrop of viral videos of celebrities sharing their medical results, politicians losing decorum, and social media users jesting with daily-changing hashtags circulating the internet. But for those who have fled war-torn countries, or those in the Caribbean who live ...

There’s a name for Trump playing down the threat and failing to take action against the virus: Institutional betrayal

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

There’s a name for Trump playing down the threat and failing to take action against the virus: Institutional betrayal

U.S. intel agencies issued dire, classified warnings to President Trump in January and February about the dangers posed by the coronavirus, according to revelations reported in The Washington Post. For weeks, U.S. communities coast to coast sounded the alarm. They didn’t have enough tests to diagnose, track and limit the spread of COVID-19. Meantime, federal and some state officials downplayed the need for a coordinated response. There’s a name for situations when systems that are supposed to take care of others do harm: institutional betrayal. As trauma psychologists, we see that betrayal by the Trump administration, and we offer some lessons from behavioral science to guide the government response to this global health crisis. Traumatic events involve death, or the threat of death, ser...