I think that, in the face of an ongoing global health emergency and a pressing need to reopen safely, some form of health pass is a reasonable option to consider. But debate is a good thing, so here are some brief thoughts on various concerns I've heard about them... [thread]

"A health pass discriminates against people who have refused the vaccine." No. A health pass should also support proof of test result for people who haven't been vaccinated, and exemptions for people who cannot be vaccinated (get vaccinated if you can though, for heaven's sake).

"A health pass is an invasion of privacy." No. A health pass should be privacy preserving, allowing you to prove your status to third parties without giving away personal data or letting them track you without your permission.

"A health pass is unfair to people without smartphones." No. A health pass should accommodate people without a smartphone, e.g. with a printable option as a fall-back (though for most of us, carrying a digital pass on our phone will be much more convenient).

"A health pass will become obsolete as the virus mutates." No. A health pass should actually give us more insight and flexibility to adjust our response as our knowledge of the virus, and the ways we test / treat / vaccinate for it, increases.

Are #vegan diets really the 'single biggest way' to reduce our carbon footprints & environmental impact on the planet? We argue that this is a highly misleading claim & that the evaluation of dietary change comes with a lot of context & complexity

🧐📑➡️: https://t.co/kYGeTpy8UP

1) Global data shouldn't be used to evaluate local contexts

Regional differences are important & due to very large variations in feed digestibility, slaughter age & weight, climate conditions, management, sociocultural factors, & nutrient security.

2) Further mitigation is possible

A lot of margin is left for higher productivity, feed strategies, veterinary care, smart use of manure, & herd management. A reduction of waste, the re-use of meat-processing by-products, & the valorization of biogas also hold potential.

3) Restricting animal foods only entails a small effect

For Westerners, the effect isn't only small on a yearly basis (1-6%) but especially so on a lifetime of emissions. Some vegetarians may even have higher impacts than some omnivores. Mock products do not solve the issue.

3bis) Aren't we scapegoating animal foods to downplay our non-dietary lifestyle effects?

Taking a flight, for instance, easily offsets one or more years of veganism. Yet, cars, tourism, pets, & smart phones receive little attention in comparison to the dietary quick-fix claims.

1. Last NYE was a quiet one for @AmyMcLellan2 & I, after a busy year writing and helping @DavidHHeadley and @LizzieCurle organise @CapitalCrime1

Someone I follow on Twitter shared this story, and we jokingly said we hoped it wouldn’t be another SARS.

2. A few days later, after watching social media footage coming out of Wuhan, I went for a meeting to plan Capital Crime 2021, and said it was likely we’d have to cancel the festival because of the emerging pandemic. My partners in crime looked at me as though I was unhinged.

3. As the situation worsened, I reconnected with people I knew from my previous life working as a consultant to the medical industry, and it became clear we were witnessing the start of a pandemic.

4. Knowing something about the history of pandemics, I was aware that early intervention, and quick and decisive action were essential. I was asked to write a report for Matt Hancock on the risks of reinfection and long-term ill health caused by coronaviruses.

5. Knowing the public health and economic costs of a pandemic, I joined people like @DrEricDing trying to raise the alarm in February, calling for decisive government action. In the report sent to Hancock, I recommended a 4-week precautionary border closure and lockdown...

Watermelon: Eat Me?
Me: Gladly😋🤤😂

BENEFITS OF WATERMELON
1.Good eye sight
2.Prevent Kidney Disoder
3.Prevents heart problem
4.Helps prevent cancer
5.Heart care
6.Improves sexual life
7.Great for hair and skin

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1.Good eye sight

Don’t worry about eye health if you eat plenty of watermelon, because, between the beta-carotene, vitamin-C, lutein, and zeaxanthin, your eyes are well protected.

These antioxidants will ensure the protection of your eyes from age-related degeneration

2.Prevent Kidney disorders

Watermelon contains a lot of potassium, which is helpful in cleaning or washing out the toxic depositions in the kidney

It aids in reducing the concentration of uric acid in the blood, thereby limiting the risk of kidney damage

3.Prevents heart problem

The presence of potassium and magnesium in watermelon helps to bring down blood pressure.

Potassium is helps releases the tension of blood vessels and arteries, thereby stimulating increased blood flow and reducing stress on the cardiovascular system

4.Helps prevent cancer

Watermelon has an impressive level of lycopene, a carotenoid phytonutrient compound that is increasingly being linked to cancer prevention

half of this website believes that all of your problems can be solved by going to therapy

another half thinks that the entire psychological profession is fake and after some vaguely construed revolution mental health will be solved

what's funny about this is that nothing about it new

I wish this wasn't paywalled because the books Lasch reviewed (in 1976!) sound very familiar. The same kind of dumb debates on this subject that occur constantly here are inherited from boomers

the point Lasch makes towards the end is that all of these books are grasping towards something that neither therapy or politics fully covers, even if both are obviously relevant.

but first, he does a tour through the books. he encounters people who believe all character traits are a product of "propaganda" and "conditioning" that can be fixed with therapy or therapy-like processes, and people who think therapy is a distraction from politics

New NHS reforms announced today. Seems to be a story of two parts, plus a missing character. Quick thoughts (1/):

Part 1 of the story is a set of technical fixes wanted by NHS leaders to encourage collaboration in the health system. The direction here makes sense—and fits with what the NHS has been doing for ages. Competition is (mostly) out; collaboration is in: good (2/)

And the need for legal changes to tidy the mess left by Lansley’s 2012 Act has long been recognized. But... (3/)

The benefits of integration are often way overstated, and the risk of reorganizations underplayed. In its first 30 years, the NHS’s structure was relatively stable. But over the past 30, the NHS in England has been on an almost constant treadmill of reform and reorganization (4/)

Overall, evidence suggests that previous reorganizations have delivered little measurable benefit. They can also distract and disrupt, depending on how they’re done. The list of other things for the NHS to be doing during and after the pandemic is very long. So be cautious (5/)

The present iteration of conspirituality is defined by its online mediation. Frictionless space allows for unbounded charismatic reach and absolute, transcendent evasion of accountability. /1

Conspirituality themes of heroic individualism versus the cabal of control merge seamlessly with personal branding that pretends to outshine consensus reality. /2

Conspirituality and social media are now materially and economically parallel. In their first-order impacts, both monetize attention and emotional manipulation. But in the next ring out, both impact the material world in life-and-death ways. /3

Conspirituality can shift vaccine hesitancy, for example, while social media generally can disrupt IRL relationships and provoke addiction cycles and mental health crashes. And a thousand other things. /4

As with most online political activism, conspiritualists believe they are accomplishing something through that first-order dopamine loop. They’re not really building a world with posts, but social proof tells them they are. /5

I struggled with intense acne for 3 long years in high school.

During that time, Western pimple commercials eroded my self-worth in 30-second increments.

Here is the story and what it means for practicing self-improvement without judging yourself.

Time for a thread! 👇👇👇

The arc of the pimple commercials was always the same:

1. Guy with pimples hides from his crush

2. Someone tells him he's ugly

3. There's a party

4. Someone recommends some skincare product

5. Guy uses product, goes to party, kisses the girl

Ex:

The message this reinforced to people for whom the product didn't work (aka me) was also always the same:

As long as you have acne, the other sex won't be interested in you, so don't bother.

It's a pattern deeply embedded in Western culture:

Find a flaw, worry about it, try a quick fix. If it doesn't work, go back to worrying.

Repeat this cycle until you find an even bigger inadequacy.

This may lead to some improvement, but it inevitably leads to self-loathing.

Now, let me present to you: Japanese skincare ads. They don't target teenagers.

Pimples aren't a flaw to be overcome, just a part of life.

"If you take care of your skin, acne might happen but won't ruin your day."

That's the message.

Ex:

Some thought about DVT prophylaxis in ICU.
Part of my presentation on the same topic.

Question 1: What is the incidence of DVT and PE in current era of widespread thrombo-prophylaxis?
#FOAMed

Question 2: How do you diagnose DVT in ICU?
▶️I think, the best evidence is available for CUS with limited scope for Venography.
And no role of D-Dimer.
#FOAMed

Question 3: Is there any evidence supporting Heparin thrombo-prophylaxis in ICU?
#FOAMed

Yes.
1⃣Number needed to prophylax to prevent 1 DVT - 20
2⃣Number needed to prophylax to prevent 1 PE - 52
3⃣Overall no major bleeding. But bleeding risk need to be individualised.

Question 4: Is there any evidence of LMWH over UFH in VTE Prophylaxis?
#FOAMeYes.
1⃣LMWH decreases DVT. But no difference in Proximal DVT.
2⃣No difference in PE.
3⃣No difference in major bleeding.
4⃣Lower incidence of HIT in LMWH (PROTECT Trial).
5⃣Overall advantage LMWH.

Question 5: Is there any role of Mechanical Thromboprophylaxis?
#FOAMed

THREAD 4

#ALEPH2020:

#ALEPH2020: humans are physiologically adapted to animal source

#ALEPH2020: Nutrients are not always easily obtained from plants

#ALEPH2020: special needs of vulnerable populations are met with animal source

#ALEPH2020: restricting animal source foods may put the young at

I previously did a wellness check on @SaRaAshcraft that resulted in her becoming very angry at me. She isn’t posting on Twitter. I am hoping that she is under Federal protection right now.

It wasn’t the wellness check that she was angry about - she thanked me for it - it was the fact that I characterized her as needing medical help.

This was based on her Tweets.

A true friend cares about others but also knows when to back off.

There is not a day that goes by that I do not reflect on Sarah, who is an amazing human being I was privileged to meet over Twitter.

The police officer who did the wellness check on Sarah told me his impression that she is highly intelligent, reported being a trauma victim, and only needed help to be OK.

I understand why the help he offered, eg to go to hospital, might not have been what she wanted.

Health officials should stop hiding behind the law to impose its unjustifiable increased contribution rates.

PhilHealth is allegedly forced to require higher payments from members as this is a provision of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.

Totoo ba ito? NO.
1/

True, increased PhilHealth rates are part of the UHC Law. In fact, it is one of the controversial provisions that oppositors wanted to remove or change.

But even if the increased rates are part of the law, is govt really forced to implement it? NO.

Are there precedents? YES.
2/

The Magna Carta of Public Health Workers (1992) states the benefits that govt healthcare workers are entitled to.

But to date, these benefits are not all given to HCWs in govt hospitals. Govt refuses to provide funds for these benefits.

So HCWs still have to fight for these.
3/

The Nursing Act of 2002 states that Salary Grade 15 is the minimum base pay for nurses in govt service.

However, from the outset, govt refused to implement this provision despite pleas and demands from nurses.

The Supreme Court finally decided in favor of the nurses in 2019.
4/

But what did govt do? It distorted the law and SC decision by insisting a wage increase ONLY for Nurse 1 nurses.

Worse, Nurse 2-6 nurses were demoted and the Nurse 7 level was removed, leading to outrage and demoralization.

Yes, govt has a history of NOT implementing laws.
5/

Waist Trainers are useless.
It’s a scam, a fraud and a deceit.

They use ladies who already have slim waists and flat tummies to advertise it.

If you wear it for “fashion”, that’s ok.
If you wear it for flat tummy, you are fooling yourself and wasting your money.

Happy weekend.

Waist trainers can harm you
Waist trainers can harm you.

Can cause skin irritation,
Can cause organ damage,
Can worsen heartburn,
Can cause breathing problems,
Cannot cause weight loss,
Cannot give flat tummy,

Sorry to break your heart
But actually, waist trainers can harm you.

Waist trainers cannot give you any curves that you never had naturally.

If you have the curve already,
A waist trainer may help it show.
If you never had any curves,
A waist trainer can never give you one.

If the hourglass was never there,
A waist trainer won’t give you one.

Waist trainers can’t cause flat tummy.
And it surely canNOT give you “curves”.

You take soft drinks, eat junk food, and swallow Eba at 2am like a hired killer;

If you like wear waist trainer,
Once you remove it, your tummy will fall down on your thighs like the wall of Jericho.

What a waist trainer does is to give you an ILLUSION of a flat tummy or a curvy appearance.But it is a temporary illusion.

A waist trainer NEVER changes your body on the long term, never gives you a flat tummy and it can NEVER make you curvy. Except you already had it naturally.