linkstream2 microblog

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With the right precautions, there’s a lot you can do to prevent Lyme disease. Here’s what you need to know.

Know the Four Places Ticks Like to Hide

Dr. DeShaw stresses that a thorough daily check is key. Ticks, he said, particularly love to hide in these places: (1) behind the knees; (2) in the groin; (3) in the scalp; and (4) in the armpits. A tick should always be removed with tweezers. Grasp it as close to the skin as possible and pull out firmly and smoothly.

Use Repellents

DEET (on skin) and permethrin (on clothing) are the recommended repellents. Essential oils may have some repellent effect, but don’t rely on them, Dr. DeShaw said.

Assess Your Surroundings

If you live in an area where Lyme disease is prevalent, like Connecticut, you may want to treat your lawn or have it treated by a professional. Benjamin Asher, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Manhattan, emphasizes that spraying should be limited to natural options. “We should be respectful to the environment,” he said.

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Katy Noble, a pediatrician in Stamford, Conn., recommends making “a daily shower or bath at night your nightly ritual, and use that time as a means to check your family for ticks. You may wash off any before they’ve really had a chance to really dig in.”
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According to Dr. DeShaw, July and August are the peak months for Lyme disease. Don’t slouch on fall, though. He recommends staying vigilant through September and October.”
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Ticked Off
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/style/ticks-lyme-disease-summer.html

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A peculiar cross reaction with a specific food exists with Lipitor and other “statin” drugs used to lower cholesterol. Grapefruit juice blocks special enzymes in the wall of the small intestine that actually destroy many medications, including Lipitor, and prevents their absorption into the body.
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http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/mobileart-rx.asp?articlekey=87598

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/vitamin-b12-raise-iron-levels-blood-11782.html

#VitaminD on Trial
http://the-Scientist.com/2012/03/01/vitamin-d-on-trial Interesting mail the med. trial where participants aren’t explicitly checked for compliance

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“Once a month for the next 5 years, 20,000 people across the United States will find a package containing 62 pills in their mailboxes. As participants in a clinical trial, the recipients agreed to swallow two of the pills daily. But inevitably as the years pass, some pill packets will become buried under a stack of letters, or forgotten in a drawer. After all, these pills contain only vitamin D, fish oil, or an inert placebo—a person doesn’t need them to make it through the day. Plus, no one monitors who takes the pills daily and who does not.”

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Scientists critical of the VITAL study question whether the daily dose of 2,000 IU is enough to distinguish the treatment group from the controls. If this were a drug trial, the placebo group would go without the drug completely. But it’s unethical to ask anyone to go without vitamin D. Doctors inform all participants that they can take up to 800 IU of vitamin D daily (the national recommendation for people over 70 years old) in addition to the pills they receive in the mail. If they do, the control group will sustain more than adequate levels. But some participants might decide to break the rules and head to the nearest corner store for high-dose supplements after being told that vitamin D may help prevent cancer and other diseases. And of course, many participants won’t follow through with taking the pills they’ve been sent in the mail. “You hope drop-ins and drop-outs will be equal on both sides, but they may not be,” warns biostatistician Gary Cutter at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

A higher dose of vitamin D would widen the gap between the treatment and the control group, but Manson isn’t swayed. She says 2,000 IU will lift the treatment arm well above the level suggested to help protect against nonskeletal diseases, while she expects the controls to stabilize at levels sufficient for healthy bones. “Sure, we could have tested higher doses, but then right off the bat, we might have had safety issues,” Manson says.
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Nonetheless, in other disease-prevention trials, investigators are gunning for better compliance and a fighting chance of showing an effect by doling out large, periodic doses of vitamin D. In the United Kingdom, a trial looking at the effect of vitamin D on respiratory infections (including the flu) is giving participants 120,000 IU of the vitamin every 2 months. And participants in the treatment arm of a vitamin D trial for type 2 diabetes prevention take an average dose of 89,684 IU once per week.
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http://ehs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Safety-Bulletins/may2017.pdf

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 Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.  Use repellents that contain 20 to 30 percent DEET on exposed skin and clothing for protection that lasts up to several hours.
 Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors to wash off and more easily find ticks.
 Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon return from tick-infested areas.
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Removing a Tick
 Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
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Never crush a tick with your fingers.
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http://enroll16.itsyouryale.yale.edu/medical-coverage

Easy comparison of smart care v choice plans

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A E T N A S M A R T C A R E P L A N
The Aetna Smart Care Plan provides quality care along with an expansive network of medical care facilities for your healthcare coverage.
How It Works: After you meet your deductible, the plan pays 90 percent for most covered in-network services up to the annual out-of-pocket maximum. Once the annual out-of-pocket maximum has been reached, the plan pays 100 percent.
…A E T N A C H O I C E P L A N
The Aetna Choice POS II medical plan provides coverage for a wide range of medical expenses. The plan also provides coverage for certain preventive and wellness benefits.
How It Works: Through Aetna Choice, you pay for care, except preventive services, until you meet the deductible which varies based on the plan you choose. Once you’ve reached your deductible, your plan pays for 90 percent for most covered services and you pay 10 percent until you reach the annual out-of-pocket maximum.
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https://member.teladoc.com/aetna

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As we get older, most of us will experience some kind of brain degeneration. Typically, we lose the ability to make new neurons. Another problem is chronic, low-grade inflammation in the brain, which is implicated in many age-related brain disorders.

To tackle both problems in one go, Ludwig Aigner at Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg in Austria and his colleagues targeted a set of receptors in the brain that, when activated, trigger inflammation.

High numbers of these receptors are found in areas of the brain where neurons are born, suggesting they might also be involved in this process, too.

A drug called montelukast (Singulair)….
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Old rat brains rejuvenated & new neurons grown by asthma drug
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28384-old-rat-brains-rejuvenated-and-new-neurons-grown-by-asthma-drug #Montelukast reduces inflammation & incr. regeneration

The #EpiPen…Health Care System Dysfunction
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/upshot/the-epipen-a-case-study-in-health-care-system-dysfunction.html Large price hikes: In total, $114=>$600, 450% after inflation since ’04

Breathtaking http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21702743-air-quality-indices-make-pollution-seem-less-bad-it-breathtaking Air quality in big cities may cut ~1 year from life expectancy. London significantly worse than NYC