Covid/Coronavirus and diabetes - the numbers

Tannith said:

The way covid affects younger people and hangs about damaging them for months afterwards frightens me. I worry for my children who are just under 40. One told me yesterday she is going on holiday albeit self catering and in the uk. I was horrified.Her partner is obese. None drive, so they all have to use public transport. Another has been required to go back to work in the office several days a week - again using public transport. None can get supermarket deliveries so they have to go in person. I am hugely pleased that the Govt has made masks compulsory on public transport and in shops, as this will protect my loved ones as well as reduce the pandemic spread.

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Think the big caveat here is that we have no idea how many young people have had covid so it's likely we only hear about how those with symptoms have had long term effects. Indeed many with mild symptoms also don't realise they've had it so mortality and severity is hard to know. I say that with full knowledge of someone who was 27 and on a ventilator.. But I still think that's more likely the exception than the rule.

With the emerging evidence around t cells it's becoming even harder to know how many in the population have been infected... Antibody tests don't look for t cells so really figures at this minute in time mean very very little. Only that hospital admissions and mortality are both on the decrease... Hopefully not just attributable to lockdown and restrictions but we just don't know.

bulkbiker said:

Anther interesting perspective on the reported numbers.

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Really interesting. Especially the longer the pandemic goes on and especially relevant to care homes and elderly who may die of other causes within the next 6 months to a year anyway.

Lot of eyes on the USA at the moment!

Dusty911 said:

Lot of eyes on the USA at the moment!

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Absolutely,
Just shows the sterility in the arguments we shouldn't have locked down.
D.

A postcard from the edge.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...id-19-next-pandemic-may-already-have-started/

lindisfel said:

Absolutely,
Just shows the sterility in the arguments we shouldn't have locked down.
D.

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Even though daily deaths are less than half what they were in April.. yes even in the good old USofA.

bulkbiker said:

Anther interesting perspective on the reported numbers

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Just watched that. Very interesting. The whole channel - https://unherd.com/interviews/ - is well worth a watch for journalism seeking to understand and explain rather than promote a single agenda. Some fascinating and thought provoking interviews.

Unherd and Spiked are my go-to resources for rational journalism. An essential tonic in today's hysteria-driven, science averse society.

No hysteria where I live just the usual calm British stoicism.
As to anti science I'm not seen much of that either just disagreement about what the pandemic response should be.

MrsA2 said:

@liza_h
Hi Liza
I work (or think I work) on just half a thyroid, unmedicated. How do you get your TSH measured? On the rare occasions mine is done I'm just told "in normal range"

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Hi - sorry for the delay in replying. I don't pop back as often as I should.

Get blood test results in figures. Always. You are entitled to have the full figures so always ask for the actual figures of the tests and do some research.

To live life in my best health possible I think it's essential to get the full figures of any blood tests. To me results such as "normal" are useless. Medical providers have to work within an agreed framework. As I understand it "normal" means:
"the level in current policy where no further action is required".

A result of "normal" doesn't mean you don't have a thyroid problem or insulin resistance or whatever is being tested... it just means that you don't meet current requirements for further help. Many people get symptoms far earlier than others so the level where help is offered isn't optimal for everyone. It isn't optimal for me and I became very unwell before being given medication. Other people don't have symptoms and manage well at different thyroid levels.

My attitude is that if I'm going to live my best life I have to be proactive and the fine tuning has to be done by myself with support from my GP/ health-care experts. For the fine tuning I need exact figures from those blood tests... then I go back to the GP with my list of symptoms and beg for a tiny increase in meds when one is needed! Even half of the smallest dose (25mcg Levothyroxine) can make a big difference to my well-being and health.

Good luck!

bulkbiker said:

Even though daily deaths are less than half what they were in April.. yes even in the good old USofA.

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The fact that daily deaths are falling is wonderful news. I wonder if we are just better at looking after the sickest patients or is the virus weakening. Lots of questions really.

I'm more interested in the number of daily infections, shame we can't really get an accurate number, especially as not everyone who has the symptoms goes to be tested. I have three friends in different parts of the country who were very ill in the early days when they just couldn't get tested, so who knows?

At least with masks being compulsory in shops I feel more confident about going to the shops although even then, nothing is 100%. I hope all the teams in the world are successful in their search for an answer.

The daily death figures lag behind the new infections rates by about 3-4 weeks.
So the increase in US infections was happening while their deaths were still falling.
Now, 3-4 weeks later, the deaths are increasing again to follow the infection curve.
- utterly predictable, I am very sorry to say.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
All you have to do is look at the graphs for 3 week old infection rates, see if they were rising (as they were in the US) and compare it with their current death rate. Same curve, albeit on a different scale.

@DavidGrahamJones but I do think you are right - people (the HCPs) are getting better and better at handling things.
Just one of the things that contributed to the high UK death rate (compared with other countries) was that we were all told to stay and home and look after ourselves until we were in a bad enough state to call an ambulance. I completely understand why they did this (the emergency phonelines were swamped, and flattening the curve was seen as the biggest priority), however we now know that early intervention, esp with oxygen, can prevent more drastic interventions. So now people are being encouraged to ask for help earlier, before oxygen saturation levels fall too low. As a result, there are fewer patients who progress to respirators, which is a benefit to the patient, the resources, the health care professionals, and the patient's chance of survival.

Bagdad have had to put a big graveyard in the desert to take all the dead from covid19 because the normal facilities cannot cope.

Some countries are having a difficult time.
D.

Max68 said:

What is becoming even more concerning, forgetting mortality rates for the moment, seems to be the way Covid is leaving an awful lot of people with post Covid complications. It's becoming apparent that this disease affects the whole body, not just the lungs, and according to a discussion on GMB yesterday it's suggested that "half" of those recovered, regardless of underlying conditions, are suffering weeks/months later with various symptoms such as persistent shortness of breath etc and other complications including heart, liver and kidney issues. Needs a lot more investigation and statistics but it certainly paints a picture that it's far from a disease that you either get it and recover or you get it and require hospital care as the two main patient categories.

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Yes it is worrying. Many viruses cause 'post viral fatigue' which often is classed as ME or FM and is not just fatigue. Hope this isn't worse even than those. I have had ME/FM following an aggressive virus for many years now. Prior to diabetes by decades.

Some light in the darkness?

Interesting article today.

Young people should not expect to bounce right back after a COVID-19 infection — a new study finds that about a quarter of young adults were still not back to their normal health weeks after contracting the infection, even if they had no medical conditions and were not hospitalized.

The findings show that recovery from COVID-19 "can be prolonged, even in young adults without chronic medical conditions, potentially leading to prolonged absence from work, studies or other activities," according to the report, released Friday (July 24) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Although many studies have focused on hospitalized COVID-19 patients, researchers wanted to gauge what recovery is like for patients with less severe illness who are not hospitalized — known as "outpatients." So they analyzed information from nearly 300 U.S. adults ages 18 and older in 13 states who were tested for COVID-19 at a clinic or emergency room, but were not hospitalized at the time of the test. Because the study researchers wanted to look at recovery, they included only people who tested positive and reported experiencing at least one COVID-19 symptom at the time of their test. Participants were followed up with an interview two to three weeks after their test date to see how they were doing.

Overall, about two-thirds of all adults in the study reported returning to their usual health within about a week of their test date, but 35% said they had not returned to their usual health at the time they were interviewed, which was 14 to 21 days after their test date.

Among younger adults (those ages 18 to 34 years old), 1 in 4 were still recovering two to three weeks later; that number rose to 1 in 3 for those between 35 and 49 and nearly 1 in 2 for those 50 and older.

Even for healthy, young adults with no underlying medical conditions: About 1 in 5 had lingering symptoms two or three weeks later

Overall, among those who had not recovered, the symptoms that were least likely to resolve were cough and fatigue.

The findings show COVID-19 is not "just another flu" — data from previous years has found that more than 90% of outpatients with the flu are back to normal within two weeks of a positive test, the report said.

"Public health messaging should target populations that might not perceive COVID-19 illness as being severe or prolonged, including young adults and those without chronic underlying medical conditions," the report said.

Measures including social distancing, frequent handwashing and use of face coverings in public should be "strongly encouraged" to slow the spread of COVID-19, the authors concluded.

A very definite bump in the numbers in Spain, if not a second wave.
https://www.mscbs.gob.es/en/profesi.../alertasActual/nCov-China/situacionActual.htm
Particularly notice the number of asymptotic in the enlargement.
While I do not have the numbers involved, local reports suggest the greatest number of new cases is in the 18-26yr age group. Is this showing what can happen when restrictions are eased on “gatherings”.

The Spanish numbers in particular resort regions show a high “bump” after almost zero.
Much of this seems to be attributed to particular night clubs which are now locked down.
We will have to wait some days before we get figures of the spread to more elderly and vulnerable relatives.

https://murciatoday.com/totana-lock...re-registered_1476406-a.html?#bottom_navigate

Madrid was the original centre for the highest numbers but now it is Cataluna showing highest increases.

Max68 said:

Interesting article today.

Young people should not expect to bounce right back after a COVID-19 infection — a new study finds that about a quarter of young adults were still not back to their normal health weeks after contracting the infection, even if they had no medical conditions and were not hospitalized.

The findings show that recovery from COVID-19 "can be prolonged, even in young adults without chronic medical conditions, potentially leading to prolonged absence from work, studies or other activities," according to the report, released Friday (July 24) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Although many studies have focused on hospitalized COVID-19 patients, researchers wanted to gauge what recovery is like for patients with less severe illness who are not hospitalized — known as "outpatients." So they analyzed information from nearly 300 U.S. adults ages 18 and older in 13 states who were tested for COVID-19 at a clinic or emergency room, but were not hospitalized at the time of the test. Because the study researchers wanted to look at recovery, they included only people who tested positive and reported experiencing at least one COVID-19 symptom at the time of their test. Participants were followed up with an interview two to three weeks after their test date to see how they were doing.

Overall, about two-thirds of all adults in the study reported returning to their usual health within about a week of their test date, but 35% said they had not returned to their usual health at the time they were interviewed, which was 14 to 21 days after their test date.

Among younger adults (those ages 18 to 34 years old), 1 in 4 were still recovering two to three weeks later; that number rose to 1 in 3 for those between 35 and 49 and nearly 1 in 2 for those 50 and older.

Even for healthy, young adults with no underlying medical conditions: About 1 in 5 had lingering symptoms two or three weeks later

Overall, among those who had not recovered, the symptoms that were least likely to resolve were cough and fatigue.

The findings show COVID-19 is not "just another flu" — data from previous years has found that more than 90% of outpatients with the flu are back to normal within two weeks of a positive test, the report said.

"Public health messaging should target populations that might not perceive COVID-19 illness as being severe or prolonged, including young adults and those without chronic underlying medical conditions," the report said.

Measures including social distancing, frequent handwashing and use of face coverings in public should be "strongly encouraged" to slow the spread of COVID-19, the authors concluded.

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Thank you for posting this. If even fit young adults take a while to get over the virus then it gives me some hope that one day, maybe after several months or a year, I will eventually recover too.