You may not see anyone wearing masks anymore, but COVID is still out there. The real problem now is LONG COVID; that plethora of debilitating symptoms potentially lasting for weeks, months, and sometimes longer, following what on the surface may have been anywhere from a mild case to a devastatingly severe case of COVID. Furthermore, […]
Tag: COVID
Where are we with COVID? Overall, We are Not in a Good Place
It was like magic. After three years of sickness, death, lockdowns, masks, taking our temperatures, measuring oxygen levels, suddenly everyone on the planet seemed so shout “Don’t talk to me about COVID anymore!” The CDC loosened its guidelines, schools reopened, retail stores, big events, public transportation all became masks “optional.” When I’m outside about 3% […]
May, June, July: Covid, Ticks, Long Haul, Chronic Lyme, What Next? Oh My!!
COVID-19 is certainly still with us. Last week, the U.S. death toll crossed the one million mark. Suburban Evanston returned to the high-risk zone for COVID transmission, yet much of Illinois, especially downstate, remains woefully unvaccinated (only 37% are VAXed and boosted). I receive at least three or four emails a day, variations on “flu-like […]
Root Causes of Chronic Fatigue, Part 15: Long Covid
Doctors who work with patients who have chronic fatigue, chronic Lyme, and fibromyalgia have remarked on the similarity between people with these conditions and those suffering the frequently disabling symptoms of long Covid. Like chronic Lyme, in which many patients don’t remember either a tick bite or Lyme disease, patients with all the features of […]
Covid Compassion Fatigue
Having a practice where just about every patient is immunized has its benefits. Despite being in the midst of Covid-19’s fourth surge with the Delta variant, we’re seeing no new Covid cases. Phew! Other physicians aren’t having such good fortune, as this doctor reports in The Atlantic, the first place I’ve seen the term “ […]
Covid Could Vanish
First, I was really pleased that the kerfluffle I expected in the wake of last week’s Health Tip asking (no, begging) Dr. Joseph Mercola to stifle his anti-vax stance never materialized. He, of course, does have his disciples. Otherwise he wouldn’t be coining $110 million a year. But a good number of our readers are […]
Jonathan Toews, Covid-19, and CIRS
Perhaps you’ve heard about the Chicago Blackhawks captain, his long illness, and the good news that he’s back on the ice. After saying in December that feeling drained and lethargic had kept him from playing, the three-time Stanley Cup Champion said last week that he had CIRS, chronic inflammatory response syndrome. Never heard of it? […]
Commonly Missed Diagnoses: Covid-19 (Covid? RU Serious?)
Leslie, a teacher in her mid-30s, made her appointment with WholeHealth Chicago at the suggestion of her primary care physician, who knows we see a lot of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. He’d ordered myriad tests, including, of course, one for Covid antibodies. Leslie had begun feeling poorly in the middle of 2020, […]
Can’t Get Vaccinated? Here’s Why
Once a week, the Chicago Sun-Times asks random people “How hard have you found it to get a Covid-19 vaccination?” and devotes a page to the responses. Virtually every answer is a variation of “I’ve tried to sign up on all the websites every day at all times of day and night and appointments are […]
Covid Immunization: Facts, Not Fiction
If you don’t feel like reading one more word about Covid-19, you’ve got my sympathy. However, if you’re inclined, scan this Health Tip and perhaps pick up a fact or two you didn’t know. Want to jump to my take-away? It’s this: When the vaccine is available to you, take it and thank your lucky […]
The Covid-19 Long Haulers + POTS
Most people who get Covid-19 suffer a very unpleasant few days, but recover completely. However as you’ve undoubtedly heard, some, now called long haulers, are taking much longer to recover. These patients are left with residual symptoms (some of which are new in that they didn’t appear during the original infection) that may be less […]
The Covid-19 Pandemic and the American Caste System
When I read the opening sentences of the New York Times review of journalist- author Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, I was glad it was soon arriving on my Barnes & Noble pre-order. I’d been deeply impressed by Wilkerson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Warmth of Other Suns, the story of the Great […]
Covid-19 Worries
You may have noticed fewer Health Tips about Covid-19 recently, which might have struck you as odd given our dreadful numbers here in the US. Well, there was a reason for this. WholeHealth Chicago was one of hundreds of health-oriented websites that were sent cease-and-desist warning letters from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging widespread […]
DIAGNOSE-IT-YOURSELF: COVID-19
Far and away, the commonest phone call/e mail I receive asks about COVID-19 diagnosis.Just print this out, tape it on your refrigerator door, and stay calm.ALLERGIES• Runny nose• Sneezing• Red, swollen eyes• Itchy eyes and nose• Tickly throat• No fever COLD• Runny nose• Sneezing• Sore throat• Mild muscle aches• Mild dry cough• Rarely a low […]