Category Archives: Science

“Better safe than sorry.“

The New York Times Opinion: Coronavirus School Closings: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late. “History teaches us that keeping children at home early in an outbreak can save lives.” By Howard Markel. “Dr. Markel studies the history of pandemics. … [He] is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and a professor of pediatrics.”

“Schools are community gathering places where large numbers of people are in proximity to one another and respiratory infections can easily spread among young people and adults alike. Shutting them down can be a key part of slowing the spread of easily transmissible viruses so that hospitals are not overrun with sick people, and it can help to buy time to allow for the development of antiviral medications, medical treatments or a vaccine.

But policymakers working to stop the spread of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 should remember a key part of this historically informed equation: We can’t wait until it’s too late.

Communities in the United States must shut down schools before, not after, the outbreak becomes widespread here. “Widespread“ is admittedly an imprecise term, but I use it to describe a situation in which there are multiple cases throughout a town or state and more cases with each passing day.”

Link via MetaFilter.

Zinc can shorten a common cold.

NPR Health: Taking Zinc Can Shorten Your Cold. Thank A 91-Year-Old Scientist For The Discovery. “The common cold is a top reason for missed work and school days. Most of us have two or three colds per year, each lasting at least a week.

There’s no real cure, but studies from the last several years show that some supplement containing zinc can help shorten the duration of cold symptoms by up to 40% — depending on the amount of the mineral in each dose and what it’s combined with.”

“Most recently, a meta-analysis published in 2017 by Harri Hemilä at the University of Helsinki concludes that 80 to 92 milligrams per day of zinc, given at the onset of cold symptoms, reduced duration of the common cold by 33%.

The study finds that two different zinc compounds — zinc acetate and zinc gluconate — are both effective. And there’s no evidence, the researchers say, that increasing those doses of zinc (to 100 milligrams per day or more) leads to any greater efficacy.

Great news. Nonetheless, “it’s quite difficult to instruct patients,” says Hemilä, the author of the meta-analysis. That’s because zinc cold formulations sold at drugstores often contain multiple ingredients that can undercut the zinc’s effectiveness. For instance, the lozenges “should not contain citric acid,” Hemilä says, because it binds with the zinc in a way that keeps the mineral from being released. In addition, he says, the mechanism of action is not well understood, so scientists can’t say exactly how it works.

The lozenge used in the Michigan study is not available commercially, Fitzgerald notes. “It was especially designed for the study.””

Well, I have a cold right now (the third since November!), but as far as I can tell, there is not a single zinc supplement available here in Germany that contains the right amount of zinc in the right compound (acetate or gluconate). Many capsules also contain citric acid, which the study says binds the zinc.

I guess it’s back to lots of fluids and plenty of sleep for me. Achoo!

Glaubuli

SWR Doku: Homöopathie – Heilung oder Humbug? (YouTube, 45min)

“Die Homöopathie polarisiert: Auf der einen Seite begeisterte Patienten mit ihren homöopathischen Ärzten – auf der anderen Seite eine große Zahl von Experten und Institutionen, die die Homöopathie bekämpfen und sie lieber heute als morgen aus dem Angebot der Krankenkassen streichen wollen.

Umstritten ist die Homöopathie schon, seit Samuel Hahnemann diese Therapieform vor rund 200 Jahren begründet hat. Derzeit erleben wir aber eine Zuspitzung der Auseinandersetzung, an deren Ende sich entscheiden dürfte, ob nun tatsächlich das schon oft beschworene Ende der Homöopathie gekommen ist.
[…]
Die Zuschauer lernen sowohl glühende Verfechter als auch harte Kritiker der Homöopathie kennen. Der Film zeigt zudem eindrucksvoll, wie die Homöopathie über viele Jahrzehnte erfolgreich im deutschen Gesundheitswesen verankert wurde und wer dabei seine Interessen durchsetzen konnte. Hintergründe werden verständlich erklärt und eingeordnet, so dass die Zuschauer sich am Ende eine eigene Meinung zu dem hoch emotional diskutierten Thema Homöopathie bilden können.

Diese Doku von Patrick Hünerfeld aus der SWR-Reihe “betrifft” trägt den Originaltitel: Homöopathie – Die Macht der Kügelchen, Ausstrahlungsdatum: 29.01.2020.”