U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is issuing the first Surgeon General’s Advisory of this Administration to warn the American public about the urgent threat of health misinformation. Health misinformation, including disinformation, have threatened the U.S. response to COVID-19 and continue to prevent Americans from getting vaccinated, prolonging the pandemic and putting lives at risk, and the advisory encourages technology …
Senate Democrats announced late Tuesday the framework for a $3.5 trillion infrastructure package that will expand Medicare to offer dental, hearing and vision benefits. Democrats hope to vote on the package in the coming weeks. It will be passed via reconciliation, a procedural move that allows budget bills to be approved in the Senate by a simple majority and bypass a …
One of the most recent articles published on the treatment of COVID-19 discusses the use of statins. Statins are usually prescribed to lower cholesterol levels in the blood however they also have anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic properties, which could make them appropriate for treating COVID-19. Given a lack of randomized clinical trial data to support the use of statins for the …
Care homes need to be vigilant for outbreaks of COVID-19, even after residents have received two doses of the vaccine, according to new research being presented. Martin Martinot, of the Hopitaux Civils de Colmar, Colmar, France, and colleagues studied an outbreak of COVID-19 that began in a care home in eastern France a month after a campaign to double vaccinate …
In an article published in MedPage Today, Bernadette Melnyk, Ph.D., RN, vice president for Health Promotion, University Chief Wellness Officer, and Professor and Dean of the College of Nursing at the Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, was quoted as saying “We cannot pour from an empty cup”. What an impactful statement! What Ms. Melnyk was referring to are our …
Assisted living providers across the country have established standardized approaches to care and these approaches often result in improved lengths of stay among residents, more success at managing comorbidities and overall improvement in operations. Although there are barriers to implementing standardized care in assisted living, such as licensure regulations, there are also many success stories. In a great article published …
An article published on MIT Medical asks the question, “is all this social distancing weakening our immune systems?” According to MIT, the answer is NO, that this is NOT the way our immune system works. The idea that individuals who are exposed to a variety of microbes (i.e., germs) in childhood build better immunity is likely to be true! In …
Preliminary data from the Cleveland Clinic suggests that most people hospitalized for coronavirus aren’t fully vaccinated. “From January first to around mid-April, we’ve had around 4,300 admissions to the hospital with COVID. Of those patients, 99% were not fully vaccinated”, said Eduardo Mireles, MD, Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit. Researchers looked at nearly 2,000 hospital workers who had …
According to David Kessler, M.D., chief science officer of COVID response for the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal government is planning to have booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine available for American people if needed. “The increased age, waning antibodies over time and new variants increase the probability that booster doses may be needed,” Kessler told Congress. …
Alcohol is one of the most widely available psychoactive substances globally. Many accept the risks associated with alcohol consumption for reasons such as social engagement and feelings of pleasure. Alcohol consumption in a nursing home setting highlights the moral and logistical challenges of balancing the need for a safe living and working environment with the dignity of risk (DoR) and …
