The virus that causes COVID-19 inflames blood vessels and therefore increases the risk of blood clots forming. The result, an increased risk from COVID-19 of heart attacks, strokes (death of a part of the brain because the blood supply has been cut off by the clot) and pulmonary emboli (clots blocking the circulation to the lungs, robbing the body of oxygen).
There have been reports of clotting from the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccines. Instead of inflammation triggering clotting, it appears in these cases that the body is creating antibodies against itself, specifically against a platelet factor. Platelets are small plugs that circulate in the blood stream to close off leaks. When this factor is attacked by the antibodies, the platelets clump together without a leak to plug.
Itchy, tearing eyes, and blocked and runny nose, sneezing, a tickle at the back of the throat, and possibly trouble breathing. Is this COVID-19 or seasonal allergies?
The first way to tell them apart is timing. If youâve been like this every allergy season and you are only now developing the symptoms, seasonal allergies are most likely. Treatment is symptomatic: over-the-counter antihistamine oral meds, eye drops, corticosteroid nasal sprays all have a role to play. If your trigger is tree or grass pollen, itâs too late for anti-allergy shots or under-the-tongue meds to work as they need to be taken a while before this part of the allergy season starts.
The virus that causes COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has a very simple genetic code made up of RNA. By comparison, you and I have much longer sequences of a different chemical called DNA in our genes.
The virus is so simple that itâs hardly alive. On its own it canât do very much except survive. But, once it gets inside your cells, itâs able to hijack the infected cell and force it to make more copies of itself. It isnât capable of properly checking the copies being made and so there are always errors in the newly-made virusâ RNA. Most of these errors, or mutations, make no difference to how well the virus survives and spreads; some create a weaker virus; and there are even many that kill it. But, if enough copies are made, it makes sense that mutations can happen that give the virus an advantage.
For the last five weeks the reported number of people worldwide infected with COVID-19 has been declining. This is definitely good news. There are a number of reasons why this
A case report recently published in the
Journal of the Canadian Medical Association reminds us how important Vitamin D is to our health. In this case, a woman after a normal pregnancy and full term delivery had an otherwise normal looking baby whose bones had failed to fully solidify in his skull. It turned out that she had been very deficient in Vitamin D during her pregnancy and after about three months of proper nutrition the babyâs bones grew in properly and everything went back to normal.
This case highlights how essential Vitamin D is for the health of our bones at any age. There are nutritional sources â oily fish like salmon, red meat, liver, egg yolks, and fortified foods such as some dairy products â but itâs tough to get enough from diet alone. Fortunately during most of the year the sunâs rays striking our faces and arms for about 15 minutes a day is enough to naturally produce within our skin the levels of vitamin D that most of us need. This