Canisdirus

It's all one big...experiment.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

My doctor has me on a statin for the heart benefits as a diabetic even though my cholesterol is OK.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

👍👍 exactly.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

If you mean that drug clinical trials and almost all science is based on experimentation, you are correct. That is how we validate our knowledge and add to it. In the physical sciences, assuming the experiment is conducted correctly and variables controlled, we can expect the same results each time. Unfortunately, since not all humans are alike, in the physiological, medical and psychological sciences, we rely to some extent on statistical analysis of the data, and a larger sample size provides more informative/accurate results.

Canisdirus

Didn't happen with any of these vaccines...which are vaccines only by a technicality.

It was all rushed to market...and the govt. gave Big Pharma carte blanche...with no repercussions.

Ironically...the left bit hard on Big Pharma...very ironic.

Tote1940 Loc: Dallas

In defense of transplant coordinators
Have helped train a few and worked with many
Highly highly trained and very closely supervised by different transplant physicians: surgeons, nephrologist, immunologists, cardiologist etc
The transplant team is fairly small and they work in extremely close relationship
Few other teams in Medicine are so interactive, often including constructive infighting

BigOldArt Loc: Seminole, FL

Because there are very many"common cold" virusES. Covid 19 is no the only coronavirus. Some common colds are due to other coronaviruses.As the public saw with Covid 19, viruses mutate quickly.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

Hello! The FDA did release it for for public use! It was after the trials were complete and data evaluated. The doctor may have had a reason for this particular patient to delay. But that doesn't mean everyone should delay.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

The information I've seen about the RSV vaccine is that it isn't automatically recommended even for seniors or people with health conditions, and you should ask your own doctor for a recommendation.

apacs1 Loc: Lansdale, PA

A comment like that is from someone who doesn't do well with criticism. It's not what I think, it's what is. First hand knowledge is always better than second hand knowledge. If you'd like a house built by amateurs, good for you. I just wouldn't advertise it or recommend it to others. No more comments from me - it's not worth my time.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Cholesterol itself is a necessary substance for the nourishment cycle of our cells, and for many brain functions. But there are several types of cholesterol, which have to be in balance for the system to work. Getting the right balance is key.

Statins lower cholesterol dramatically. My overall level went from 220 to 107 with a combination of statins, diet, and activity. It's hovered around that low point ever since. I'm now in the *calculated* lowest risk category for coronary events and stroke.

What statins don't lower is inflammation. New research seems to indicate that inflammation is a root cause of bad cholesterol buildups in arteries, and that the ratios/balance of various cholesterol types are more important than the overall levels. Ergo, one can have high total cholesterol, so long as the ratios are balanced, and still be in relatively good health.

Diet seems to be the primary contributor to inflammation. I know I feel best when I *don't* eat wheat, corn, soy, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, refined starches, highly processed seed oils, and unfermented dairy products. I feel best when I eat mostly organic vegetables and WHOLE fruits with minimal processing.

Wheat, corn, and soy are generally GMO food sources in the USA. Humans and animals fed with them tend to be high in Omega 6 fatty acids, which tend to cause inflammation. Grass fed animals have a better balance of Omega 6 with Omega 3 fatty acids, so I buy grass fed meats when we eat meat. Similarly, wild caught fish, *not* raised in tanks on grains, have better fatty acid ratios.

I gave up sugary drinks in 1980, and gave up most artificial sweeteners in 1983. We don't intentionally buy white rice. We don't buy white potatoes or white breads, and we limit pasta to non-wheat varieties. Baked goods are rare treats. Eating whole fruits instead of juices moderates blood sugar spikes. We eat mostly vegetable proteins (beans, mushrooms, nuts, and *fermented* soy, like tofu) with limited quantities of organic, grass-fed meats and fish. We cook with olive, coconut, and only *cold-pressed* seed oils. We eat eggs from pasture-raised hens. We don't eat highly processed meat products more than a few times a year.

My point is that diet probably has more to do with overall health than most people in the USA want to admit. We are a gullible lot, easily persuaded by advertising to eat anything from a box, can, jar, fast food joint, or frozen microwaveable tray. We probably eat more chemically refined and processed foods than any other culture on Earth. Foods that are banned in most of the rest of the world are glamorized here. If it's packaged and sold in the center of a chain grocery store, it probably isn't a whole food substance. "Death by food labeling" is likely a thing. "0g Trans Fat Per Serving" means ≤ 0.5g per serving! Trans fat won't be listed at all if it is not there in any quantity.

Eating good, clean, whole foods can boost our immune systems. But it won't protect us entirely from disease. Vaccinations are not perfect, because bacteria and viruses are constantly evolving. But vaccinations can help minimize the severity of an infection, and may help us avoid hospitalization and death.

I was vaccinated FOUR TIMES before I got Covid-19 at my college class reunion in June, 2022. I took a five-day course of PAXLOVID as soon as I could after testing positive, and it worked dramatically. I felt better after one dose, and I tested negative after the last dose. After a fifth booster, in October, I didn't get Covid-19 when my wife did, later that month. She also recovered quickly on PAXLOVID. We both believe that vaccinations and PAXLOVID helped us avoid worse outcomes, since we are in vulnerable categories. We were glad we "played it safe" until the vaccines and a workable treatment were available.

Both PAXLOVID and the vaccines for Covid-19 and RSV are recent developments. Do they (and other vaccines and medicines) work? I believe the answer is an emphatic YES. Doubters inevitably don't understand science, and don't trust the scientific community or its methods used to develop vaccines. Dig deeper, and there is usually a lot of misinformation (or a cult's agenda) behind the doubts.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Are we really going to have the Covid anti-vax discussion AGAIN?

“A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.” (Wiki)

Certainly the specific Covid vaccine was pushed to the market quickly due, as you must be aware, to the devastating effects of Covid (the WHO estimate is 3M dead), and the result was a resounding success - it has been given to probably 200M people in the US alone. But the basis and techniques for MRNA vaccines had been studied and perfected over a period of a dozen years prior to Covid. In spite of the drivel of the anti science crowd, vaccines along with antibiotics have been the greatest advances in medicine and saved the most lives of any medical discovery. There have certainly been some failures, but they’re insignificant to the lives saved and illnesses prevented.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you dig very deeply into the science and history behind the Covid-19 vaccines, you'll find that the research into the technology used to make them dates back a whole generation. The component processes, analytical techniques, theoretical models, and development technologies were essentially on the shelf, waiting for a need, when the virus erupted.

As I recall, the Covid 19 vaccine development occurred in 2020, under a different administration. We were in a crisis, with a death rate spiraling out of control and many hospitals overwhelmed. Thank goodness they did SOMETHING. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home is a good look at the current situation.

More broadly: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/rsv-covid-19-and-flu-outlook-for-2023-2024 is an overview by Johns Hopkins University Public Health.

Canisdirus

Sorry...the data is about the same as climate change...all over the place with tons of manipulation.

You gave the technical definition of a vaccine...which I have already admitted to...

But it's not a vaccine like the public perceives a vaccine to be....very different.

They STILL don't know what the long term effects of any of the vaccines will be...but so far...not good.

It's also quite permanent...whatever it is going to do...you won't be able to get rid of it.

Big Govt. and Big Pharma...what could go wrong.

CaltechNerd Loc: Whittier, CA, USA

You're right. And it's for a logical reason. The problem is that there is not "A" cold virus, there are hundreds. And they're constantly changing. Researchers are doing their best to find common factors across large ranges of viruses. But so far, none of their ideas have worked. So in the case of colds, and a bunch of other viruses, AIDS for instance, we haven't found a way to control it with a vaccine.