Sometimes it feels as if it’s March 2020 again.
Disease
All sensation goes through four stages or processes; let’s go through them in turn.
Transduction
The Omicron variant appeared in December 2021, and the 2nd booster vaccination program began in April 2022, but outcome trends were essentially unaffected. [1]
Chronic pain is a growing problem for many Americans, especially musculoskeletal pain. “Plant-derived” non-opioid alternatives [1] have been proposed to lessen the adverse impacts of long-term opioid use.
Quick fun facts on salt and hypertension to provide a little context.
Post-marketing surveillance of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s COVID vaccination has identified a possible association between its use and subsequent episodes of myocarditis and pericarditis – two forms of heart inflammation.
You can find Dr. Billaeur’s excellent article here.
Temporal trends
There are large swings in case rates (up to 100-fold) but smaller swings for deaths (~15-fold). There are two major peaks in cases and deaths but many more in case fatality ratios (CFRs). [1]
The decision by the FDA to require lower nicotine levels in cigarettes is predicated on the idea that by lowering the dose sufficiently, a non-addictive cigarette could be created.