Genetic vaccines against COVID-19: hope or RISK?
Biologist Clemens Arvay elaborately explains the risks of genetic vaccines such as DNA- and RNA-vaccines. He warns of shortened admission procedures as they were recommended by Bill Gates and some experts. Beyond the specific risks are autoimmune diseases and an increased cancer risk.
The video was originally uploaded in German on May 3rd, he has now dubbed it in English and posted on May 10th. Thus, this important information is available to a much wider audience.
If you go to the original videos on YouTube, you will find a lot of documentation in the respective descriptions.
For best viewing, go to full screen.
Some corroborating evidence I selected here:
Don’t rush to deploy COVID-19 vaccines and drugs without sufficient safety guarantees
We must urgently develop measures to tackle the new coronavirus — but safety always comes first, says Shibo Jiang.
Shibo Jiang is a professor of virology at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China,
and at the New York Blood Center, New York, USA.
Quote:
Around the world, I am seeing efforts to support ‘quick-fix’ programmes aimed at developing vaccines and therapeutics against COVID-19. Groups in the United States and China are already planning to test vaccines in healthy human volunteers. Make no mistake, it’s essential that we work as hard and fast as possible to develop drugs and vaccines that are widely available across the world. But it is important not to cut corners. Vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, smallpox and influenza have a long history of safe use and were developed in line with requirements of regulatory agencies. I have worked to develop vaccines and treatments for coronaviruses since 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak happened. In my view, standard protocols are essential for safeguarding health. Before allowing use of a COVID-19 vaccine in humans, regulators should evaluate safety with a range of virus strains and in more than one animal model. They should also demand strong preclinical evidence that the experimental vaccines prevent infection, even though that will probably mean waiting weeks or even months for the models to become available.
Preclinical and clinical safety studies on DNA vaccines
Journal Human Vaccines Volume 2, 2006 - Issue 2
Abstract
DNA vaccines are based on the transfer of genetic material, encoding an antigen, to the cells of the vaccine recipient. Despite high expectations of DNA vaccines as a result of promising preclinical data their clinical utility remains unproven. However, much data is gathered in preclinical and clinical studies about the safety of DNA vaccines. Here we review current knowledge about the safety of DNA vaccines. Safety concerns of DNA vaccines relate to genetic, immunologic, toxic, and environmental effects. In this review we provide an overview of findings related to the safety of DNA vaccines, obtained so far. We conclude that the potential risks of DNA vaccines are minimal. However, their safety issues may differ case-by-case, and they should be treated accordingly.
On a more personal note:
There were discussions on Facebook about the subject of vaccines, lock-downs and possible second and third waves of COVID-19. I just want to pick out one, followed by my answer.
Yes by all means be free to assemble, hug who ever, go to crowded restaurants and pubs, be 'normal'. Let's wait to see how the second wave and then the third finds you.
My answer:
I haven't been hit by any "wave" at any time before, and I lived through several pandemics without hardly noticing. What makes this one different - other than it is milder than those stupid scaremongering forecasts (i.e. where I live, they talked about 100.000 deaths - reality is a bit over 600 last stand).
What do you know about SARS? Where is it now, how many "waves" of it since 2003 - just for an example. Pandemics such as these run their course in due time. By the time they have a vaccine (if ever - i.e. there never was one found for SARS*) it will have run its course and the vaccine irrelevant to go on the trash heap - but if it mutates, then the vaccines will be useless anyway, the same as many of the flu vaccines were useless, and some, like the swine flu, were even dangerous. But Pharma will have made billions in profit. The way it is going now (with exceptions of a few bad pockets that are cited as scare stories) the curves are flattening, so in order to keep up the pharma propaganda, there has to be the specter of new waves projected, and as some say, much worse than the original - because without fear (which by itself lowers your immune system) they cannot exert the type of desired control to turn people into obedient robots. Lets just drink the Cool-Aid.
To illustrate my point (and the reference made to the 100.000 deaths claim) - I live in Austria, and you can check the current official situation right here, on the Dashboard COVID-19 and there are tabs to check fatality rates and hospitalization. To this I might want to also mention that no more than 10% of intensive care unit beds in Austria are currently actually in use by patients.
So any claim that we can never return to normal unless there is a vaccine and everyone is vaccinated, is irresponsible scaremongering. The fact hat such comes from the chancellor of Austria is however alarming. To speculate what is behind all this, I leave to others - and you, dear reader: what does your common sense tell you?
* Footnote about SARS:
As of 2020, there is no cure or protective vaccine for SARS that has been shown to be both safe and effective in humans. According to research papers published in 2005 and 2006, the identification and development of novel vaccines and medicines to treat SARS was a priority for governments and public health agencies around the world. In early 2004, an early clinical trial on volunteers was planned. A major researcher´s 2016 request, however, demonstrated that no field-ready SARS vaccine had been completed because likely market-driven priorities had ended funding. ............ Wikipedia - SARS Treatment
It is not the flu - they say
well, yeah, but it is a strain of SARS so what about SARS?
SARS Revisited - AMA Journal of Ethics
April 2006
Quote:
By 2004, SARS cases had slowed just as mysteriously as they had started in Guandong province of southern China 2 years earlier, in December of 2002. Yet the legacy of unanswered questions the pathogen left behind should keep scientists, public health officials, epidemiologists, and ethicists occupied for a long time to come. Why, exactly, should we revive discussion if it is no longer a pressing threat? After all, the SARS death toll is relatively low with 812 deaths worldwide. What’s more, the looming H5N1 avian flu virus is currently front page news. Even so, the SARS epidemic should not be filed away without appreciation of the lessons it taught. Although short-lived, SARS forced us to face the unpleasant reality of global pandemics and to address the ethico-legal dilemmas that result from hasty public health measures.
Bold and underlined what I find the most relevant to our situation today!
gratuitous click-bait - it just takes you to my home page.
Don't forget, I am first and foremost a artist.
Facebook posts and discussions today:
My friend Sabina Nore posted this (among several posts I shared):
We are witnessing what Stanley Milgram has already shown in his experiment on obedience to authority.
Examining the justifications provided by the Nazis at the Nuremberg War Criminal trials, he didn't believe that they just executed orders, so he basically did a study to show that they were lying. He wanted to show that a conscientious person wouldn't commit atrocities just because they are told to do so by an authority. Unfortunately, he proved the opposite. (Oops.) He has scientifically proven that people are sheep who will do almost anything as long as someone seen as an authority tells them to do so. Justifications for atrocities are then easily found, as long as the authority wills it so. Exceptions are extremely rare.
It was a poignant observation that sort of fits with a post of mine where I quoted Thoreau:
Civil Disobedience
The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailors, constables, possee comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others--as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and officeholders--serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the Devil, without intending it, as God. A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.*
*From "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau.
Harlan Ellison, a brillant SF writer I valued very much, used Thoreau's quote from
"Civil Disobedience" to begin his story "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman
The story is a satirical look at a dystopian future in which time is strictly regulated and everyone must do everything according to an extremely precise time schedule. In this future, being late is not merely an inconvenience, but a crime. The crime carries a hefty penalty in that a proportionate amount of time is "revoked" from one's life. The ultimate consequence is to run out of time and be "turned off". This is done by the Master Timekeeper, or "Ticktockman", who utilizes a device called a "cardioplate" to stop a person's heart once his time has run out. .................Wikipedia
He had become a personality, something they had filtered out of the system many decades ago. But there it was, and there he was, a very definitely imposing personality. In certain circles--middle-class circles--it was thought disgusting. Vulgar ostentation. Anarchistic. Shameful.
In others, there was only sniggering, those strata where thought is subjugated to form and ritual, niceties, proprieties. But down below, ah, down below, where the people always needed their saints and sinners, their bread and circuses, their heroes and villains, he was considered a Bolivar; a Napoleon; a Robin Hood; a Dick Bong (Ace of Aces); a Jesus; a Jomo Kenyatta. And at the top--where, like socially attuned Shipwreck Kellys, every tremor and vibration threatens to dislodge the wealthy, powerful and titled from their flagpoles--he was considered a menace; a heretic; a rebel; a disgrace; a peril. He was known down the line, to the very heartmeat core, but the important reactions were high above and far below. At the very top, at the very bottom. So his file was turned over, along with his time-card and his cardioplate, to the office of the Ticktockman.
One of my posts on Facebook today:
YES, I AM IN A NASTY MOOD (so shoot me):
Since I don't get out much lately, having been in self-imposed quarantine since middle of March, I spend much more time on line, perusing social websites, blockchain sites, You Tube, newspaper readers comments etc. The conclusion I came to from all this exposure is, that it saddens and also frightens me that a large percentage of them (in my estimate over 90% - present company excluded) are certifiable idiots. But the worse of it is yet to come: they procreate! The other thing is: they are, at least in so called "democratic" systems, eligible voters! .... and also, save for a few restrictions, eligible to stand for office and being voted in by said majority! So is it any wonder what we experiencing now?
This here was shared on Facebook quite often, also by myself:
The Hong Kong flu (also known as 1968 flu pandemic) was a flu pandemic whose outbreak in 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people all over the world. It was caused by an H3N2 strain of the influenza A virus, descended from H2N2 through antigenic shift, a genetic process in which genes from multiple subtypes reassorted to form a new virus.
WIKIPEDIA This meme was re-posted by my friend Sabina, with this text: True story! Check it. Love & freedom or fear & caution? What do you choose? Choose NOW! I then replied to her: you have been fact-checked by REUTERS - and your post is true!!!!!
True claim: Woodstock took place in the middle of a pandemic
Social media users have been sharing an image online that claims the popular music festival Woodstock, which took place in August 1969, happened in the middle of a pandemic. This claim is correct.
I commented further: this was my first year in Canada - I would have wanted to go, but had just then started my job with Canadian Pacific so could not go without losing my job.
I never even thought of it being a pandemic - went right over my head - I do remember SARS 2003 though, we were handed a photocopied paper at work telling us to wash our hands. That was the extend of it! So come to think of it, Swine Flu later on in 2009 (that year I traveled extensively also), I should have died 3 times over already! ....... maybe I did die, and what is happening right now are just the flashes in my brain or a quantum shift into a alternate universe where the definitions of stupidity are turned upside down ...... I then attached a link to the story by Harlan Ellison I shared above.
MORE ABOUT WOODSTOCK 69:
Woodstock Occurred in the Middle of a Pandemic
MY THOUGHT ABOUT VACCINATIONS
It is not responsible to say that we cannot go back to "normality" until there is a vaccine! To develop a safe vaccine takes years of clinical trials!
Here is a video by
Austrian Biologist Clemens Arvay
One of the sources mentioned in the notes of this video is the following:
Jiang S. (2020), Don´t rush to deploy COVID-19 vaccines and drugs without sufficient safety guarantees in: Nature, 16.03.2020
Around the world, I am seeing efforts to support ‘quick-fix’ programmes aimed at developing vaccines and therapeutics against COVID-19. Groups in the United States and China are already planning to test vaccines in healthy human volunteers. Make no mistake, it’s essential that we work as hard and fast as possible to develop drugs and vaccines that are widely available across the world. But it is important not to cut corners.
Of interest to my Canadian, but also my American Friends - but be forewarned, this is a very detailed research paper that, if you followed the links and citations, would likely keep you occupied for weeks:
OCLA Report 2020-1: Criticism of Government Response to COVID-19 in Canada there is a link on that page where you can download the full report.
Vintage Elevator Photo by Evidently Cochran - Creative Commons License
the elevator fart
Frequent elevator riders would attest to that on crowded elevators, more often than not, there is always someone who silently farts. People usually pretend not to notice, but from the corner of their eyes would scan around if they could make out the culprit. Who on here has that typical guilty look?
In these days of corona fear, we should not be on a crowded elevator, but forget about that for a moment and indeed, if your office is on the 45th floor, you can hardly be expected to take the stairs. So yes, you happen to be on a packed elevator, hoping that just this time, you will be safe. Of course everyone is wearing a mask, after all, we are responsible citizen that take the well-being of our fellow elevator riders to heart.
The masks we wear, as everyone should know, do not protect ourselves, but the other people. You may feel it redundant, since you have no symptoms; you are not coughing, you have no difficulty breathing (though it is harder with the mask on), no fever, no chest pains - in short, you feel fine. You could possibly not be infected. But hold on: by now you should know that there are many, many people that carry the virus (experts say) that are asymptomatic. These are the dreaded "dark figures", and this is the reason you and I are compelled by law to wear a mask.
Now a word about another symptom that you might be infected after all.
It has been reported that a loss of smell and taste is one of the symptoms. Loss of smell and taste validated as COVID-19 symptoms in patients with high recovery rate. Study suggests clinicians should include sensory impairment as standard screening measure
Now back to the elevator.
In past, you had noticed, more often than not, that someone had farted. But now, of late you never smell anything! It cannot be because of the mask - the ones we wear have gaps on the sides, they do not fit as tightly as the protective N95 type masks medical professionals are wearing. If someone farts, you should smell it. But you don't!
Beware my friend - this is a sign, even in the absence of any other symptoms, that you could be infected! Get yourself tested!
Only problem is, if you ask for a test and telling them that you could not smell farts on the elevator, they won't test you, but just laugh at you. So now you have to live with the uncertainty and fear of being possibly infected.
Another study shows that panic and fear lowers your immune system.
Your Panic Is Increasing Your Risk
Our planet is in fear. But while we are seeing global messages daily to protect our physical health such as washing our hands, social distancing, etc., we are being given very little in terms of our mental/emotional health. The panic surrounding the coronavirus is sweeping our world, and while I am not minimizing the seriousness of the virus, the panic itself is making us all more susceptible to its potential spread. You need emotional tools and practices to keep your immune system healthy to combat the disease, just as you need physical practices, such as washing your hands, to prevent its spread. ............................ READ MORE - PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
So now the only sensible solution would be if you locked yourself in your home and never came out - they say this COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future. So no end in sight unless Bill Gates saves the wold.
But you could take the easy way out, take one last ride with the elevator to the 45th floor and ...........
............................ stay up there and enjoy the view!
The basic first draft of this was posted as a Note on Facebook
About Face Masks and the dangers of wearing them because they could cause a condition called Hypoxia - first of, the clinical explanation what it is: Hypoxia and hypoxemia facts Hypoxia is a condition or state in which the supply of oxygen is insufficient for normal life functions. Symptoms of hypoxia and/or hypoxemia may be acute or chronic and vary in intensity from mild to severe. Common acute symptoms are: shortness of breath, rapid breathing, and a fast heart rate. Severe symptoms include: The inability to communicate, Confusion, Possible coma or death. ................................................... READ MORE
Next, this is what I had written about in comments before
(in German, I am now attempting to translate to English):
Please note because of masks - and ESPECIALLY the FFP-2 masks (or also N-95): first, there are different versions, basically either with or without a valve. The masks with valve protect you, but not others, precisely because you exhale through the valve.
The masks without a valve, but also to a certain extent the surgical masks, have one major disadvantage, namely rebreathing of CO² - and this can lead to shortness of breath. If the oxygen content of your breathing air is less than the minimum value of 19.5%, then you are in an endangered zone - a zone in which the canary in the coal mine drops off his perch and this indicates that you should quickly be getting out into the fresh air! If you get short of breath, get a headache and chest pressure, it does not mean that you are infected with COVID-19, but it means that you are suffering from a lack of oxygen, which in the case of only one percentage point below the lower limit can lead to dizziness, fainting and even death!
Here is the background, in a few words,
from a document that you find the link on the bottom of the quote:
In a doctoral thesis from the Technical University of Munich in 2005, examining the effects of wearing, among other things, simple protective masks. The conclusion is terrifying.
Immediately after putting on a normal thin surgical mask, you breathe in much more exhaled CO2. The effects are so strong that the doctoral student was only allowed to test the subjects over a period of 30 minutes so as not to damage them. This leads to tiredness, faster breathing, irregular heartbeat, poor concentration, poorer fine motor skills.
(Note: this Paper is in German)
https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/602557/602557.pdf
Additional Resources
Preliminary report on surgical mask induced deoxygenation during major surgery
Surgeons in the operating room frequently experience physical discomfort, fatigue, and possibly even deterioration of surgical judgment and performance.
The Physiological Impact of N95 Masks on Medical Staff
Wearing N95 masks results in hypooxygenemia and hypercapnia which reduce working efficiency and the ability to make correct decision.
Headaches and the N95 face-mask amongst healthcare providers
Healthcare providers may develop headaches following the use of the N95 face-mask. Shorter duration of face-mask wear may reduce the frequency and severity of these headaches.
With apologies to my English Readers, here is a important source from the German Ärzteblatt. You might be able to read it if you have Google Translate installed.
Nicht für jeden ist das Tragen einer Maske unbedenklich
Dr. Edwin Böhlke, Geschäftsführender Oberarzt an der Klinik für Strahlentherapie und Radioonkologie des Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf erklärt um was es hier geht.
Nicht für jeden Menschen ist das Tragen einer Maske unbedenklich. Das gilt für alle Patienten mit einer symptomatischen und instabilen Angina pectoris und einer symptomatischen chronisch-obstruktiven Lungenerkrankung (COPD) beziehungsweise eingeschränkter Lungenfunktion.
Bei starker körperlicher Anstrengung besteht bei ihnen die Gefahr der Hyperkapnie. Kann das Kohlendioxid (CO2) aufgrund des erhöhten Luftwiderstands in der Maske nicht richtig abgeatmet werden, könnte es sich im Blut anreichern und den pH-Wert im Blut senken. Der erhöhte CO2-Partialdruck würde dann zu einer respiratorischer Azidose führen.
Following my writing, I happened to find a video from a scuba instructor on YouTube that speaks about Hypoxia and the dangers of drowning because of it caused by wearing cheap and inadequate masks. In conversation with a friend who was also a experienced diver, he confirmed that this danger is common knowledge among scuba divers:
The Death Mask
Full Face Snorkel Masks like this one are causing snorkeler deaths. Time to try one out...
Snorkel Bob's, Hawaii's leading snorkel retailer refuses to sell them. Tour operator Hawaii Ocean Project won't allow their guests to use them, even if you bring your own.
Just to be clear: first they passed out because of Oxygen deprivation caused by Hypoxia, then drowned face down floating in the water.
Getting back to PPE Face Masks:
If you see someone on the street, wearing a face mask and staggering around, don't assume they are drunk! They need help to properly breathe again!
IMPORTANT UPDATE (May 9th 2020)
Event though it was already available at the time I posted this blog, I neglected to include the new law for easing restrictions in Austria, put in force on April 30, 2020. What follows is the link to the actual official text, and a relevant excerpt about Face Masks (in German . last sentence I translate to English):
Öffentliche Orte
§ 1 (3) Im Massenbeförderungsmittel ist gegenüber Personen, die nicht im gemeinsamen Haushalt leben, ein Abstand von mindestens einem Meter einzuhalten und eine den Mund- und Nasenbereich abdeckende mechanische Schutzvorrichtung zu tragen. Ist auf Grund der Anzahl der Fahrgäste sowie beim Ein- und Aussteigen die Einhaltung des Abstands von mindestens einem Meter nicht möglich, kann davon ausnahmsweise abgewichen werden. Ausnahmen § 11. (1) Diese Verordnung gilt nicht für (3) Das Tragen von einer den Mund- und Nasenbereich abdeckenden mechanischen Schutzvorrichtung gilt nicht für Kinder bis zum vollendeten 6. Lebensjahr und für Personen, denen aus gesundheitlichen Gründen das Tragen der Vorrichtung nicht zugemutet werden kann.
This is the important part about Face Masks - in English:
The wearing of a mechanical protective device covering the mouth and nose area does not apply to children up to the age of 6 and to persons who cannot be expected to wear the device for health reasons.
OR MAYBE YOU CAN DRINK IT?
From my Wingnut Files:
US President Donald Trump has been lambasted by the medical community after suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body.
He also appeared to propose irradiating patients' bodies with UV light, an idea dismissed by a doctor at the briefing.
NBC NEWS:
President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of an "injection" of disinfectant into a person infected with the coronavirus as a deterrent to the virus during his daily briefing Thursday.
Trump made the remark after Bill Bryan, who leads the Department of Homeland Security's science and technology division, gave a presentation on research his team has conducted that shows that the virus doesn't live as long in warmer and more humid temperatures. Bryan said, "The virus dies quickest in sunlight," leaving Trump to wonder whether you could bring the light "inside the body." "So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn't been checked because of the testing," Trump said, speaking to Bryan during the briefing. "And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that, too."
"(This is an) absolutely dangerous crazy suggestion," said Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain's University of East Anglia. "You may not die of COVID-19 after injecting disinfectant, but only because you may already be dead from the injection." ECONOMIC TIMES
About avoiding stress and maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm
to increase resilience to fight COVID-19
Artwork © by Sabina Nore
My previous blog is related to this subject matter - a reprint with permission from The Conversation,
it speaks about the effects of news on the psyche:
I recommend reading that blog first, and then return here to get the perspective of the
STRESS WEAKENS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
click the above link to read (opens in separate window)
Relax, get enough sleep! A related article speaks about a healthy circadian rhythm:
Social distancing and washing hands have become the frontline in the fight against COVID-19, but there is another powerfully protective resource immediately available to all: your circadian rhythm.
While isolation and hygiene are effective in reducing the chance of infection, they do little to increase our resilience to the virus so that we suffer less and recover faster. In addition, the stress and worry caused by current trends – school and business closures, self-quarantines and mandates to stay at home – don’t help. The strains on our physical and psychological health can leave us even more vulnerable to viruses and other health issues. The answer to boosting your immunity may lie in simple steps you can take to maintain a robust circadian rhythm by developing and following a daily routine.
I head a lab that researches circadian rhythms, the daily cycles of bodily functions that form the foundation of good health. These body clocks, found in nearly every organ of the body and part of the brain, are central and vital to a properly functioning immune system. A synchronized circadian rhythm in the lungs, heart, kidney and brain ensures that the processes in our body go as planned while the immune system can effectively fight and defeat a virus. When the timing systems in the human body are desynchronized, essential organs are compromised, reducing the potency of your immune system. Circadian disruption dampens your immune system and makes a virus harder to defeat.
How Chronic Stress affects our immune system | How to improve your immune system
Chronic stress can negatively affect our immune system making you more vulnerable to infections and diseases. The chemical reactions triggered by stressful situations result in an obslaught of stress hormones being pumped around the body while these hormones are useful in acute situations. Their ability to interfere with the immune system can result in inflammation. Reduced white blood cells, and a higher susceptibility to infection and tissue damage.
Last, but not least, the definitive paper on the subject from the US National Library of Medicine
Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System: A Meta-Analytic Study of 30 Years of Inquiry
Abstract
The present report meta-analyzes more than 300 empirical articles describing a relationship between psychological stress and parameters of the immune system in human participants. Acute stressors (lasting minutes) were associated with potentially adaptive upregulation of some parameters of natural immunity and downregulation of some functions of specific immunity. Brief naturalistic stressors (such as exams) tended to suppress cellular immunity while preserving humoral immunity. Chronic stressors were associated with suppression of both cellular and humoral measures. Effects of event sequences varied according to the kind of event (trauma vs. loss). Subjective reports of stress generally did not associate with immune change. In some cases, physical vulnerability as a function of age or disease also increased vulnerability to immune change during stressors.
Coronavirus: could reading about the pandemic cause harm?
Jeremy Howick, University of Oxford and Giulio Ongaro, London School of Economics and Political Science
Scary health stories about COVID-19 pour out of the media floodgates every minute. These might be causing “nocebo effects” – where we become more ill because we expect to, as opposed to the better-known placebo effect where we become less ill due to our expectations. This could be happening on a large scale just now.
Although data about nocebo effects in the pandemic is not yet available, we suspect these effects are prevalent, based on evidence from similar cases. Consider the following: 1) In 2010, anti-windfarm campaigners in Australia spread news about “wind turbine syndrome” caused by sub-audible infrasound generated by turbines. At the same time, health authorities noticed a growing number of complaints – heart palpitations, headaches, nausea – that corresponded closely with those of the wind turbine syndrome. Yet researchers quickly found that complaints were concentrated in regions with a history of anti-windfarm campaigning. Experimental subjects that were randomly allocated to watch scary news about the harms of windfarms reported an increase of symptoms, even in the presence of sham infrasound. Researchers concluded that wind turbine syndrome was caused by misinformation rather than wind turbines.
2) In 2018, a study found that people living in countries with more Google search results about statin adverse events were more likely to report statin intolerance. Authors of the study concluded that exposure to online information contributed to these adverse effects.
3) In a large study examining the death of 28,169 Chinese-American adults in California, researchers found that people who were understood by Chinese astrology to be particularly susceptible to certain conditions – by virtue of the year of their birth – died significantly earlier (1.3-4.9 years) than people with the same conditions born in other years. Researchers concluded that “psycho-cultural factors” (belief in Chinese astrology) affected mortality. A positive test for COVID-19, combined with some initial symptoms and alarming mass media health news, could aggravate coughs, fever, pains and breathlessness. The shock caused by negative information might even precipitate death in severely ill patients by aggravating heart disorders or affecting the respiratory system already attacked by the virus. Among those without the disease, fear following the experience of a mild symptom (perhaps of a common cold) could exacerbate the symptoms and even prompt them to visit the hospital, where they could actually catch the virus – or another disease. The social isolation imposed in many countries, well known to be linked to illness and death, could exacerbate these effects. VOODOO DEATH: HOW NOCEBO WORKS
We are understanding more and more about how nocebo effects work. Emotionally charged negative information from an authoritative source can make someone expect a negative symptom such as pain or breathlessness. Then, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the expectation itself can cause the symptom. These expectations are associated with the production of neurotransmitters that induce an increased sensitivity to pain and a wide variety of other symptoms. Fear and anxiety heighten this process.
In more extreme cases of “psychogenic death” – or “voodoo death” – fear activates the fight-or-flight response. This results in, among other things, accelerated heart rate and raised blood pressure. In some cases, it can lead to arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats) and even vascular collapse, where insufficient blood is supplied to blood vessels and they literally collapse. Nocebo effects are more pronounced in people with a well-defined disease, such as a viral infection, where existing symptoms and the awareness of being at risk leads to symptoms becoming amplified. We hypothesise that there are likely to be cultural variations in nocebo effects in the COVID-19 pandemic. The way the press and media communicate, and the way news travels among people, differ across countries. Also, the way people perceive and react to health-related information is culturally specific, as are coping strategies and attitudes towards fear and death. For instance, preliminary research on COVID-19 risk perception found that old German men are less afraid of the virus than younger men, and have been described as behaving “calmly and appropriately” in the current circumstances. The cultural specificity of nocebo effects might partly explain the striking difference in mortality rates that have been recorded across countries and ethnic groups. These have been shown to vary from 2.7% in Germany to 13.2% in Italy to 5.1% in the US and 13.4% in the UK, with further differences among ethnic groups within the same country. When all conventional explanations for differences in mortality rates are taken into account, could psycho-cultural factors offer an additional explanation for the lower mortality rates in Germany, when compared with countries such as Italy? Future studies combining epidemiological and sociological data across countries will be able to investigate the diversity and clinically significant of nocebo effects in the pandemic. HOW TO REDUCE NOCEBO EFFECTS
A trial comparing aspirin with sulfinpyrazone for treating heart disease found that the patients who were told about side-effects were six times more likely to drop out of the trial because of side-effects. Dozens of other studies show that negative side-effects are lower when patients are not told about side effects. We don’t propose that the scary things about COVID-19 be hidden, but rather that the likely nocebo effects caused by scary news stories be mitigated.
At a policy level, this could take the form of government messaging, and structures of emotional support aimed at reshaping risk perception in patients. At an individual level, limiting the consumption of negative media is likely to reduce nocebo effects.
Jeremy Howick, Director of the Oxford Empathy Programme, University of Oxford
and Giulio Ongaro, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Greece: despite a decade of health cuts, coronavirus death rates appear comparatively lowStella Ladi, Queen Mary University of London Greece, which has just come out of a ten-year financial crisis, appears at this stage to have been relatively lightly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. It is perhaps surprising that a country which has made significant cuts to its health sector in the past decade has not seen a larger number of fatalities, particularly when some of its near neighbours have suffered so terribly as a result of COVID-19. On April 15, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported 2,170 recorded cases of infection and 101 deaths in Greece. Although comparisons between countries are not easy, a number of European countries with a similar populations and with less austerity experienced in their health sectors, are suffering more. On the same date, Belgium recorded 31,119 cases and 4,157 deaths, Portugal 17,448 cases and 567 deaths, Austria 14,234 and 384 deaths and Sweden 11,445 cases and 1,033 deaths. Even more importantly, the curve of the infection in Greece has stayed relatively flat from early on. The austerity measures that Greece had to implement during the 2009-2018 financial crisis as a result of three economic adjustment programmes funded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund included immediate cost-cutting measures in the health sector. The health budget – public and private – was reduced by 60% in 2014. In 2017, many were declaring that Greece was “in the midst of a public health meltdown” and that its system was broken. Facing weaknesses head onGiven all this, it seems extraordinary that a country of about 11 million people, with only 565 intensive care unit beds at the beginning of March 2020, could manage to deal with the coronavirus crisis. So, what has happened in Greece? At the beginning of February, a national experts committee on public health was established and the ministry of health appointed Sotirios Tsiordas, a professor of pathology and infectious disease, as its COVID-19 spokesperson. The government immediately designed a preventative strategy to tackle the pandemic, taking the existing weakness of the health system into specific consideration. The decision to close schools and universities and ban large social gatherings came within days and before even one death attributed to COVID-19 was recorded. The government managed to almost double the ICU capacity to 910 beds by the end of March via public sector coordination, smooth cooperation with the private sector and philanthropic donations. Persuading the population to follow the government’s instructions has been one of the most difficult aspects in all countries. In Greece, the government opted for an early and consistent message – this is an emergency and the priority is to save human lives. The economy is the next most important issue to deal with, but the government has been clear that it comes second. Tsiordas holds a press conference every evening at 6pm to explain the latest scientific evidence. Then Nikos Chardalias, deputy minister for civil protection and crisis management, announces any new measures to be taken. A clear link between evidence and policy is made and any fake news or misinformation that has been spread in the previous 24 hours is tackled on the spot. Fines to people and businesses that did not comply with the new rules were applied early on to make the point even clearer. Learning from crisisGreece has just emerged from a ten-year financial crisis and seems to have built resilience and a stoicism over the inevitability of any crisis. The COVID-19 emergency is unprecedented in the way it has affected health and life more generally at the global level, but, for many Greeks, it is simply the next crisis that they need to tackle. Images from neighbouring Italy and Spain made both Greek people and the government realise that the danger was in their backyard. By acting reflexively and by acknowledging the pre-existing weaknesses of the health system, the government appears to have had more scope than some other European countries to implement a drastic strategy. What can be learned from Greece is that the health system alone is not enough to confront a pandemic. Other aspects of governance such as decisive leadership which communicates physical distancing measures effectively and steadily seems to be equally important. But the fight against the pandemic is not over. Loosening the measures taken will be equally challenging and different expertise will be needed to direct governments, as economies shrink, on how to deal with people tired of the lockdowns. Stella Ladi, Senior Lecturer in Public Management, Queen Mary University of London This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Coronavirus Pandemic Update 56:
What is “Forest Bathing” & Can It Boost Immunity Against Viruses?
COVID-19 Update 56 with Roger Seheult, MD of https://www.MedCram.com
A series of joint studies from Stanford University School of Medicine and several medical schools and institutions in Japan demonstrated that exposure to “phytoncides” released by trees and plants may boost immunity by increasing natural killer cell quantity and activity among other effects. Dr. Seheult illustrates how these studies were conducted as exposure to forests (forest bathing) may fall into the category of additional things we can do (and that don’t cause harm) to potentially help prevent viral infections such as COVID-19.
Links referenced in this video:
Johns Hopkins Tracker
Videos - in German
Wald gegen CORONA-VIREN und für FREIES DENKEN (Mit Biologe Clemens G. Arvay)
verwandtes Videos von Clemens G. Arvay, das sich mit diesem Thema schon in 2018 befasste
Related video by Clemens G. Arvay that dealt with this topic in 2018
C. G. Arvay über Öko-Psychosomatik - Akademie für menschliche Medizin
In den Nachrichten berichtet, von den letzten bis zu früheren Jahren
Reported in the News, from most recent to earlier years
Der Standard, 14. April 2020
THERAPIE IM GRÜNEN Wie Wald auf unsere Gesundheit wirkt
Das aus Japan kommende "Waldbaden" und der Trend zur Nutzung der Wälder für Therapien sind in Europa bereits vielfach etabliert. Wer in einer sehr urbanen Umgebung lebt, entwickelt auch eigene Zugänge zur Natur. "Waldbaden", das sich auch in Europa als Trend etabliert, ist ein gutes Beispiel dafür. Der Ansatz resultiert aus der von großen Städten geprägten Kultur Japans. ...... MEHR LESEN
Mein Kommentar dazu
Wiener Zeitung von 2015:
"Die Natur verurteilt uns nicht" Autor Clemens G. Arvay über die gesundheitsfördernde und heilsame Wirkung des Waldes.
Die Presse von 2016:
Hilfe aus dem Wald: Bäume als Medizin
English Speakers please note - these articles are entirely in German.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Perhaps you can read them with Google Translate built in on your device.
Christian Schubert, Professor an der Medizinischen Universität Innsbruck,
erforscht die Zusammenhänge zwischen Psyche, Gehirn und Immunsystem.
"Eine Möglichkeit, sich psychisch zu schützen, ist, den Medienkonsum zu begrenzen, wo wir Schreckensnachrichten hören und belastende Bilder sehen."
aus dem Interview mit dem Arzt, Psychotherapeuten und Psychoneuroimmunologen Univ.-Prof. DDr. Christian Schubert
Ostern:
Wald gegen CORONA-VIREN und für FREIES DENKEN (Mit Biologe Clemens G. Arvay)
Immunbiologie und freies Denken: Der Biologe und Autor Clemens Arvay über Wald und Immunsystem, die fragwürdigen Sperren von Grünräumen und über Naturspaziergänge in Zeiten von Covid-19.
Martin Sprenger war Berater des Gesundheitsministers und kritisierte zugleich Maßnahmen der Bundesregierung. Nun sitzt er nicht mehr im Expertenstab.
Beim Kanzler kam Martin Sprengers Kritik an einigen Maßnahmen der Bundesregierung gar nicht gut an. In einem Interview hatte der Public-Health-Experte unter anderem das Schließen von Parks und Wandergebieten als "nicht nachvollziehbar" bezeichnet. Solange der Abstand im Freien gewahrt werde, bestehe dort kein Infektionsrisiko. Darauf in der ZiB 2 am Montag angesprochen, sagte Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) sinngemäß, er höre zum Glück nicht auf die falschen Experten, die ihn vom erfolgreichen Weg abbringen wollten. Besonders pikant: Der "falsche" Experte Sprenger war zu diesem Zeitpunkt Mitglied des Expertenstabs der Corona-Taskforce, die mit Gesundheitsminister Rudolf Anschober (Grüne) mehrmals wöchentlich die Strategie im Kampf gegen das Virus berät. Der STANDARD hört indes auch von anderen Experten, die mit der Regierung zusammenarbeiten, dass die öffentliche Äußerung von wissenschaftlichem Dissens nicht so gern gehört werde, weil politische Entscheidungsträger davon noch mehr Verwirrung befürchteten. Insbesondere Kanzler Kurz sei auf eine einheitliche Linie ohne Zwischenrufe bedacht.
Martin Sprenger, Public-Health-Experte und inzwischen ehemaliges Mitglied des Expertenstabs in der Corona-Taskforce des Gesundheitsministeriums, erklärt, wo wir in der Corona-Krise stehen, was wir versäumt haben, und wie wir da am besten wieder herauskommen. Der Shutdown, sagt er, war richtig, um Zeit zu gewinnen. Aber wir haben diese Zeit nicht genutzt, um das Wissen zu generieren, das wir jetzt für kluges Risikomanagement bräuchten. Die Regierung schaue noch immer zu eindimensional auf die Intensivkapazitäten, und wir müssten möglichst bald nach Ostern damit beginnen, Kindergärten und Volksschulen zu öffnen.
Geschäfte zu schließen, Lokale, öffentliche Parks – alles konnte man sich im Zuge der Corona-Krise irgendwie vorstellen. Aber unsere Berge?
Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (65, CDU) verkündete am Freitagabend per Video-Podcast ein weiteres Detail der Kontaktbeschränkungen, die die weitere Ausbreitung der Pandemie verlangsamen soll: „Auch Kurzreisen innerhalb Deutschlands, an die See oder in die Berge oder zu Verwandten, kann es dieses Jahr über Ostern nicht geben.“ |
OTTO RAPPThis blog is primarily art related - for my photography please go to Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|