COVID 2019 Comorbidity with Diabetes

zand

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How else could you pay the cheque in? Needing money in the bank is essential.
He said I should have posted it. I said I still would have had to go out to buy a stamp. He just shook his head and looked disgusted at me.
 

zand

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I use online banking (Lloyds). I can pay a cheque in with my smart phone and its camera within 2 minutes without stepping outside my door.
In fact, I haven't set foot inside a bank in probably 2 years, and don't intend to in the next 10 years if I can help it. Online banking is quicker, easier, allows me to set up/cancel direct debits and standing orders, open and close accounts, arrange overdrafts, reduce or eliminate overdrafts, pay bills, pay credit card, transfer money, see my balances, see my account history, search for specific payments, helps calc my tax return, and enables me to be paper free. I can use a computer, a tablet or my phone to do all these.

Back when I lived in rural Wales for 20+ years, I used to pay cheques in by using the Paying In envelopes supplied by the bank. I used to post them in through the bank's letterbox in the evenings while passing on my way home from work. In those days I did everything using the 24/7 phone banking system since I worked long hours and the bank was NEVER open when I could get to it. Worked like a charm.
I use online banking and Lloyds too. This was hubby's bank who don't offer the smart phone and camera option. The cheque was a refund for car tax. We would have preferred to have the money transferred electronically but that wasn't an option.

Edit: I don't use creditpoint anymore since Lloyd's lost 4 out of 8 cheques that my son paid in (wedding presents) One never turned up and they ended up giving him the money without it. It was a long battle though.
 

lucylocket61

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I use online banking (Lloyds). I can pay a cheque in with my smart phone and its camera within 2 minutes without stepping outside my door.
In fact, I haven't set foot inside a bank in probably 2 years, and don't intend to in the next 10 years if I can help it. Online banking is quicker, easier, allows me to set up/cancel direct debits and standing orders, open and close accounts, arrange overdrafts, reduce or eliminate overdrafts, pay bills, pay credit card, transfer money, see my balances, see my account history, search for specific payments, helps calc my tax return, and enables me to be paper free. I can use a computer, a tablet or my phone to do all these.

Back when I lived in rural Wales for 20+ years, I used to pay cheques in by using the Paying In envelopes supplied by the bank. I used to post them in through the bank's letterbox in the evenings while passing on my way home from work. In those days I did everything using the 24/7 phone banking system since I worked long hours and the bank was NEVER open when I could get to it. Worked like a charm.
I do not do banking using my phone. I do not consider it to be secure.
 

Winnie53

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@zand I don't understand the shaming behavior at the bank. Where I bank, they closed the lobby to protect their employees and require everyone to use the drive through. Is drive through banking less common there?

Another challenge here is that you have to be in a car to use the drive through at fast food places, and I think at banks too, so if you're walking, you're out of luck, though you can use the walk up ATM machine outside of the bank.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

@Robinredbreast Oops, replying from my phone. Meant @Bluetit1802. Apologies for the "bird" confusion.

I don't understand what happened at the pet store either. That's just so odd.
 
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lucylocket61

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@zand I don't understand the shaming behavior at the bank. Where I bank, they closed the lobby to protect their employees and require everyone to use the drive through. Is drive through banking less common there?

Another challenge here is that you have to be in a car to use the drive through at fast food places, and I think at banks too, so if you're walking, you're out of luck, though you can use the walk up ATM machine outside of the bank.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

@Robinredbreast I don't understand what happened at the pet store either. That's just so odd.
I haven't seen a drive through bank in the UK.
 

Mr_Pot

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While I was in the States I saw a lot of restaurants with a sign saying "Drive Thru Window" which seemed dangerous !
 

joffy01582

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Has anyone in the UK attempted to buy a non-essential item from a store allowed to remain open because it sells essential items, but been refused this non-essential item? I'm not just talking Easter Eggs, but any non-essential item? There seems to be confusion about the rules on this and I was wondering if anyone else has come across this. It happened to my hubby the other day in a well known chain pet store when he went in for dog food and a plant for the fish tank. He came home with the dog food but not the fish plant as that was refused.
Yes at superdrug yesterday morning ....I was in Bedford for a podiatry appointment so I'd thought I'd pick up some shower gel/soap ....sorry you can't come in prescriptions and baby stuff only
 

HSSS

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Don’t forget shop manager, area managers and national head offices will all be making their own interpretations of the law, usually based on summaries (interpretations) rather than the actual act.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard the bbc and other journalists misquote the legislation. Perhaps in an abundance of caution, perhaps to suit their own opinion, perhaps to try and positively encourage more rather than less compliance.

Law is usually tested in court cases to establish interpretations. No time for this to have happened and let’s hope it doesn’t last long enough to do so.
 

HSSS

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relevant to covid especially
https://thorax.bmj.com/content/70/7/617

“Vitamin D deficiency is common in people who develop ARDS. This deficiency of vitamin D appears to contribute to the development of the condition, and approaches to correct vitamin D deficiency in patients at risk of ARDS should be developed.”

It is my understanding vit d is best taken with vitamin k so worth checking that if you intend to supplement vit D. I am taking daily doses of both currently (having been identified as low D by blood tests)
 

Brunneria

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relevant to covid especially
https://thorax.bmj.com/content/70/7/617

“Vitamin D deficiency is common in people who develop ARDS. This deficiency of vitamin D appears to contribute to the development of the condition, and approaches to correct vitamin D deficiency in patients at risk of ARDS should be developed.”

It is my understanding vit d is best taken with vitamin k so worth checking that if you intend to supplement vit D. I am taking daily doses of both currently (having been identified as low D by blood tests)

Thanks for that info - although I would add that there are several types of vit K, and the one needed to work best with Vit D3 is Vit K2.
It is important to understand the differences between the different Vit Ks, since Vit K1 has an important role in blood clotting, and an excess can cause clotting difficulties, whereas Vit K2 has a role in strong bones, teeth, and the correct distribution of calcium in the body (helping to avoid atherosclerosis).

This link explains it better than I can:
https://info.dralexrinehart.com/articles/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k2-benefits-connection
 

zand

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Yes at superdrug yesterday morning ....I was in Bedford for a podiatry appointment so I'd thought I'd pick up some shower gel/soap ....sorry you can't come in prescriptions and baby stuff only
Hmm and I thought soap was supposed to be crucial in this fight!
 
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Indy51

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A very overwhelming "*****-slap" as the good doctor calls it. So, for that reason, I won't post the link. The doc doesn't pull any punches with his language.

@Winnie53 - he's in the US, so video especially addresses the situation there and it's terrifying, I'm sad to say.

Youtube: - Channel Duc C. Vuong - Video Title: HOW COVID-19 KILLS--I'm a Surgeon--And Why We Can't Save You
 
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LucySW

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HI guys,

For anyone who's interested, a paper which is very relevant to us. It's making the rounds on epidemiology Twitter,** and may be very important. It's dense, but readable. Link is below, but I've also pasted in the summary that accompanied it in the original thread.

**I'm not in any way medical, but I read medical and epidemiological Twitter. I'm funny that way.

TL;DR: The paper finds that, contrary to what we thought, the virus works not by attacking the lungs directly, but by disabling respiration in the blood. It strips hemoglobin out of red blood cells, which are the mechanism for respiration in the human body, and converts it to something else. Result: less O2 is delivered round the body, less excess CO2 can be taken away. Bad, bad news. The authors say that acute respiratory distress syndrome in ICUs is a consequence, not a cause, of respiration difficulties.

Still more importantly, they look at these hemoglobin-hijacking processes and find that chloroquine & some other drugs can prevent it. And they say clinical data shows that treating EARLY with these drugs can be more effective.

They say that a high A1C does indeed mean we need to protect ourselves, because it means we have less oxygen-transporting hemoglobin available (glycated hemoglobin can't transport O2).

LSW

Link: you have to download it but it's free.

https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID...e_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173

And here is the summary:

"This paper appears to yield a number of VERY USEFUL hypotheses and treatment for critical patients if true: https://chemrxiv.org/articles/COVID-19_Disease_ORF8_and_Surface_Glycoprotein_Inhibit_Heme_Metabolism_by_Binding_to_Porphyrin/11938173

Using computational analysis (modeling the behavior of a molecule in a computer), they’ve worked out the probable mechanism by which SARS-nCov-2 wreaks havoc on patients, as well as why chloroquine and favipiravir seem to work. Here’s what I’ve figured out:

Inside our red blood cells, there is a molecule called hemoglobin, which contains heme groups. Each heme group is a molecular “ring” (called a porphyrin) that can hold an iron (Fe) ion inside. Having an iron ion inside is what allows this heme to carry O2 (and CO2) in our blood.

Red blood cells with hemoglobin inside pick up O2 on the heme groups as they pass through our lungs, and can also carry back CO2 to be exchanged again for O2. This is how our bodies move O2 to our tissues and remove CO2 waste products, i.e. “cardiovascular.”

The virus’s RNA also codes for a number of non-structural proteins. These are pieces that get made during viral replication but aren’t part of the main virus particle. Many viruses have these; they’re like helper proteins that facilitate things that the virus does.

The paper modeled these and found that the proteins “collaborate” to knock iron ions out of heme groups (HBB) and replace them with one of the proteins. This makes the red blood cell unable to transport O2 and CO2.

If the computer modeling is right, it shows that the virus hijacks our [red] blood [cells] and makes it unable to carry O2 to a patient’s tissues/organs, and likewise unable to carry CO2 out of them.

This would lead to organ and tissue death, roughly in the same way as if a patient were being suffocated. Even when a patient can breathe (fill lungs with air), the oxygen isn’t getting to the cells in their body.

The inflammation in the lungs results from the lungs not being able to perform the oxygen/CO2 exchange, and would therefore appear to be a SECONDARY result of the hijacking of the blood. The lungs not working is a result of lack of O2 in blood, not the cause of it.

The paper models the behavior of chloroquine and faviparavir as well, which appear to bind to the non-structural viral proteins that hijack the heme groups, thus inhibiting them from knocking out the iron and wrecking the O2-carrying ability of the red blood cells.

This also explains the observation made by various ER docs (incl this one in New Orleans) that patients tend to have elevated ferritin: ferritin is used to store excess iron. If a lot of iron is knocked out of heme groups and floating around, the body produces more ferritin:

https://t.co/nnTvcbwh1V?amp=1

If true, this may mean a few things: 1. Starting drug treatment while symptoms are mild keeps virus from hijacking too much blood, enabling a still-healthy body to mount an immune response. Explains why early drug treatment (first week of symptoms) is often successful.

2. Drug treatment and intubation once patient is critical will rarely work because tissues/organs are already damaged, blood can’t carry O2, and the body is too weak to produce new red blood cells able to carry Fe (and thus oxygen/CO2) even if drugs inhibit more hijacking.

3. Thus: start severe patients on drug treatment upon hospital intake to suppress further hijacking of blood by the virus, then give them a blood transfusion of new red blood cells immediately that are unhijacked. If all this is true, we would see rapid patient improvement.

(i.e. this theory should be very testable) Also, if it’s true, we’re gonna need a lot of blood donations. So far as I know, there are no studies where we’ve tried transfusing blood from a patient who HASN’T had or recovered from COVID-19."
 

urbanracer

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zand

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One thing I don't understand is why/ how the virus makes the lungs/throat/nose so very dry?
 

Winnie53

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That's all very informative and good to know.

It doesn't explain why some become severely ill while others are asymptomatic or only mildly ill though.

Increasing production of these drugs and PPEs and ventilators needs to happen now but that's outside my control and influence.

As the understanding of how this virus works continues to be understood, it's important to remember what we can do...

Get glucose levels down with diet and exercise. If you're not already, take a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement - (for B vitamins, zinc, and selenium); vitamins A and D3; magnesium and vitamin C. I always take D3 with K2.

Interestingly, it appears most of the vitamins and some minerals play a role in preparing the body for battle with this virus.

In cancer treatment there are two approaches (that can be used together, not just one or the other): 1) kill or remove it and 2) change the terrain of the body so it's not a happy home for the cancer.

I'm putting my energy and effort into the latter as I do what I can to prepare for exposure to this coronavirus, but will use those drugs too if needed and available.

The problem continues to be access to testing in the US for a variety of reasons. I listened to Peter Attia's current podcast last night. Still processing it.
 

lucylocket61

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One thing I don't understand is why/ how the virus makes the lungs/throat/nose so very dry?
it could be that the sensitivity of the tissue inside our throats makes sufferers feel like their throat is dry. I get a very dry throat type feeling when I have a cold. Plus the fever dries us out inside a bit too, so we need a bit more fluid.
 
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Winnie53

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A very overwhelming "*****-slap" as the good doctor calls it. So, for that reason, I won't post the link. The doc doesn't pull any punches with his language.

@Winnie53 - he's in the US, so video especially addresses the situation there and it's terrifying, I'm sad to say.

Youtube: - Channel Duc C. Vuong - Video Title: HOW COVID-19 KILLS--I'm a Surgeon--And Why We Can't Save You

Yes Indy51, I wouldn't encourage anyone who's already feeling anxious and following all prevention guidelines to view this video. It instills fear (and no hope), a message that some young people and other deniers really need to hear, but for the rest of us, not helpful or useful. It's going to take me a couple of days to get some of the language he used out of my head. Awful language. (Though a good overview of the anatomy and physiology of how pneumonia develops, still though, not worth watching for most of us). But I do understand where he's coming from. One of our sons is a firefighter working just north of the Seattle epicenter. We're worried about him.

All that said, vitamin C is an infection fighter, and also is used as a treatment for sepsis. It works best with D3, zinc, and magnesium. Unfortunately, he doesn't mention that...so offers no hope, and hope is something we all need right now.
 
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HSSS

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Yes Indy51, I wouldn't encourage anyone who's already feeling anxious and following all prevention guidelines to view this video. It instills fear (and no hope), a message that some young people and other deniers really need to hear, but for the rest of us, not helpful or useful. It's going to take me a couple of days to get some of the language he used out of my head. Awful language. (Though a good overview of the anatomy and physiology of how pneumonia develops, still though, not worth watching for most of us). But I do understand where he's coming from. One of our sons is a firefighter working just north of the Seattle epicenter. We're worried about him.

All that said, vitamin C is an infection fighter, and also is used as a treatment for sepsis. It works best with D3, zinc, and magnesium. Unfortunately, he doesn't mention that...so offers no hope, and hope is something we all need right now.
I agree there’s not a lot of hope but some harsh facts the deniers need to hear. If you are overloaded on doom and have plenty of facts don’t bother.

The language really wasn’t that unusual or exceptional but definitely included some words that would be filtered on here. I hear worse on the streets around me in a “nice” area every single day. I have used most of them myself, in emphasis, as this dr does and I’m not a base person. I think that might be a US/U.K. thing. Some parts of the US are more “puritanical?” in language/outlook and expectations than the U.K. generally is. Absolutely no offence intended, just an observation from one side of the pond and I’m sure there are exceptions both ways.