Reader question:
September 13th, 2021
I hope you will be able to see this email. I wasn't sure how else to reach out to you. Thank you very much for your newsletter. I always look forward to receiving it.
I had a question about something you wrote. Can you elaborate on what you wrote below? How would I know if I had a poor vaccine response? Would a poor response be that there were no side effects or was having bad side effects a poor response? Everyone in my family that got the MRNA vaccines had zero effects other than slight headaches the next day. Our friends, after their second doses, were in bed the next three days and extremely tired and felt like they had the flu.
Coronavirus Update 44
Spetember 13th, 2021
My current recommendations remain: 1) get vaccinated and take the guess work out of this as vaccination dramatically reduces death and hospitalization risk. 2) follow the links in the introduction above for an integrative approach to remaining immune solvent to reduce all cause infectious mortality risk. 3) live every day like it is your last by honoring your mission to be a great human while you love people around you and while you love yourself.
Volume 11, Letter 3.0
September 13th, 2021
Coronavirus Update 44
The 4th wave has turned in North Carolina and in most of the country.
The reports are out there that breakthrough cases are roughly 1 per 5000 vaccinated persons. (Leonhardt D. 2021)
If you have had 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine, you have a very very small risk of a significant hospitalization and almost no chance of death from the Delta variant based on statistics overall.
Dynamic Versus Static
September 6th, 2021
The human body is an extremely dynamic machine processing and changing cellular metabolism real time millions of times a day based on need. We have incredible systems of redundancy in place to handle acute shifts in our perceived and real environment. This was evolutionarily necessary as food sources, temperature variations and general living conditions historically were in constant flux.
Today, we live in a world where we attempt to keep everything static for comfort. For example, 70 degrees F as an indoor temperature was not possible until the recent past.
Type II Diabetes and Covid in Kids
September 6th, 2021
The pandemic has taken an amazing toll on human health. According to two new studies that are not yet in print, the pandemic caused a doubling in diabetes in children. This is not a trivial matter as insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome in general are the diagnostic diseases associated with increased risk for cancer, coronary artery disease and early death from issues like COVID. The antecedent triggers have been well studied and discussed in this newsletter. Sedentary behavior coupled to a high fat, high refined carbohydrate diet are the main drivers of disease and the pandemic forced many a child's hand. They were less likely to exercise and move during the poor quality zoom events. Physical education classes were non existent. Food quality plummeted from a poor school based place to a worse home based place.
If you missed it, listen or read the Insulin resistance newsletter from June 27th of this year to really gain a greater appreciation for the why we are here question.
Hiking Season is Almost Here
September 6th, 2021
Hiking is a favorite way for me to immerse myself in nature and contemplate all kinds of ideas for change and growth. As fall rounds into shape, get out in the beautiful countryside. Look far into the distance for relaxation. Smell the air and enjoy the freshness. Think about a better version of yourself,
Coronavirus Update 43
August 30th, 2021
My current recommendations continue: 1) get vaccinated and take the guess work out of this as this dramatically reduces death and hospitalization risk. 2) follow the links in the introduction above for an integrative approach to remaining immune solvent to reduce all cause infectious mortality risk. 3) live every day like it is your last by honoring your mission to be a great human while you love people around you and while you love yourself.
It is time to address the elephant in the room again, obesity. We have continued to see the popular press dance around the obesity subject as we normalize the world of inflammatory lifestyle induced disease.
Volume 11, Letter 37
August 30th, 2021
The vaccines are not working as well anymore hence the big 4th wave.
The delta variant now comprises most of the current cases in the United States and there are many more unvaccinated cases and now increasing vaccinated cases. To my knowledge, there are fleetingly few reported deaths in the US in vaccinated persons. Over the past few weeks the narrative has changed again with weaker vaccine data regarding breakthroughs.
Immune Boosting Cold and Flu Prophylactic
August 23rd, 2021
Sometime around late fall, when flu season starts to hit and I begin to get e-mails from my kid's teachers informing me of bronchitis and stomach virus germs floating around the classroom, I begin to think preventatively as colder days keep us indoors and in close contact. One of my favorite immune boosting herbs is astragalus. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years as an herbal treatment designed to make the body's natural defenses stronger. Studies have shown that astragalus root improves the function of white blood cells. In fact, it is used in cancer patients after chemotherapy to strengthen their immune systems. Astragalus root contains several compounds such as flavonoids, saponins, and polysaccharides that are thought to be responsible for its medicinal effects. Therapeutically astragalus root works as a preventive agent, helping to fend off viruses and bacteria before they make you sick.
I make this delicious astragalus pumpkin seed butter as an alternative nut butter spread in the winter months to give my family's immune system and added boost.
Ten things not to do in your kitchen!
August 24th, 2021
1) Most importantly - do not cook or reheat in plastic. This includes using plastic wrap during microwaving, boiling in plastic bags or styrofoam. If you use a microwave, place a glass of water in the microwave to keep your food hydrated. The plastic residue can have endocrine disruptors in it.
2) Do not use metal utensils in questionably safe non stick cookware, i.e. teflon. Or, better yet, do not use non stick coated cookware. Ceramic appears to be a better cookware choice.
How many pets do you have?
August 26th, 2021
Derek Sivers
2021-08-13
I used to have too many pets.
Volume 11, Letter 36 Vision and Breathing
August 23rd, 2021
Poll questions
Do you praise effort more than ability?
100% said yes. that is great news for our kids!
Do you let your kids conflict resolve without intervention?
65% said yes
Vision and Breathing
What are the connections between breathing and vision?
Reminder
August 16th, 2021
For the Unifying Theory of SARS2/COVID19 pathology that was published in September, please follow this link. In this piece, I lay out what appears to be the pathway to infection and subsequent significant illness. It will be updated in the coming months.
Dr. M
Questions???
August 16th, 2021
How will COVID evolve? I have looked into this question a few different ways and it always, in general, comes back to the same answer: the virus will mutate into a more infectiously fit but less morbid variety. Viruses have one goal, reproduce and survive. This sounds an awful lot like the function of our DNA for us.
A really nice article in The New Yorker this week has looked into this topic as well. "During this pandemic, we’ve developed and deployed vaccines in real time. Meanwhile, sars-CoV-2 is replicating not in a dozen flasks but in tens of millions of people, some of whom have been immunized,
Coronavirus Update 42
August 16th, 2021
Delta is everywhere, check. Delta is far more contagious, check check. Delta is not killing at a higher rate so far and likely won't pending another mutation, check check check. Therefore, we need to keep our heads about the severity change. Lockdowns and school closures should not be on anyone's lips. The most important piece of data to pass along remains the knowledge that death is fleeting once vaccinated. Once previously recovered or vaccinated, memory T cells and B cells are working very well to prevent hospitalizations mostly and death almost completely. Mild breakthrough cases in vaccinated individuals are expected with waning immunity.
Volume 11, Letter 35
August 16th, 2021
Ok, let me just say what is on everyone's lips. THIS STINKS! Delta is a pain in the butt and I am frustrated. But, alas we are here and we will overcome yet again. In the words of Marcus Aurelius: “Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?”Let us all buckle down, hang on and live every day with love and happiness despite the frustrations.
Why do siblings fight?
August 9th, 2021
Is it a right of passage? A dominance paradigm? A battle for parents love? What?
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman had a lot to say about this reality in Nurture Shock, a great book. It turns out that siblings fight on average 3.5 times an hour or 42 times while awake. It is roughly 10 minutes of every hour. Ouch, that is a lot of squabbling. Now we know why parents feel stressed at the end of an average day.
Dr Ganie DeHart noted that siblings said 7 times as many negative comments toward a sibling as opposed to a friend. Why? Siblings don't go anywhere whereas a friend can reject you for your statements and isolate you from an experience that you crave. Age spacing and gender have little effect on the frequency and severity of fights.
Dr. Laurie Kramer has studied sibling relationships for decades. The sum total of her research is that siblings will fight and that the quality of the fighting persists in a similar way throughout the siblings lives into adulthood.
Talented and Gifted Children
August 9th, 2021
I have recently had a few conversations regarding talented and gifted children with a few parents that were in praise mode too often regarding a child's gifts where they were unaware of the downstream effects of such a parenting behavior.
Effort and praise of effort is a key to success according to Carol Dweck, a Stanford Psychologist. Many times in the last few decades, I have brought up the topic of effort and resilience. Carol Dweck, is a muse for future teachings. In her book, Mindset, she lays out the case for the effort and praise theory over the praise for ability theory.
Long Covid and its association with Epstein Barr Virus, EBV, reactivation
August 9th, 2021
This is a very important topic for clinicians and parents to understand so we are going to look at it a little more deeply.
Long COVID or what appears to be a post infectious inflammatory issue may now be a consequence of another infection. What are the symptoms of long COVID and when do they occur? From the CDC: Some people
This is a very important article for clinicians and parents to understand.
August 2nd, 2021
Long Covid and its association with Epstein Barr Virus, EBV, reactivation
The article notes that a 6.7x increase in EBV reactivation in long COVID patients based on antibody titer measurements. We do not know if EBV is driving the long COVID so much as a reflection of the inadequate immune T helper cell activity that should be present in immune solvent individuals attempting to clear a viral pathogen. It has been shown in different studies over the past year that individuals with poor T cell activity, TH1, Natural killer cells, NK and poorly polarized macrophages, MAC2, are at increased risk for a worse COVID morbidity and/or mortality outcome.