Not So Simple Things You Need To Know Continued
Claudewell S. Thomas, MD, MPH, DLFAPA, is an established psychiatrist who is currently retired ,, He received his medical degree in 1956 at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and specializes in social psychiatry, public health psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry. Dr. Thomas was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry... more
The number of people believed to be infected by covid-19 in the USA now exceeds earlier expectations by so much that mandatory stay at home orders have been issued by the governor of California and the mayor of New York City. There are approximately 41 million Californians and 11 million New Yorkers. The number of virus afflicted people and the number of deaths is the highest in the nation.
The United States has resisted an overarching public health authority which would have oversight and authority to act in emergencies such as this. It seems clear that the need to have that is obvious. The anxiety and fear that are abroad in the USA are manifested by the increase in gun and ammunition sales. This represents an unnecessary and dangerous consequence of the pandemic.
How does the virus kill?
The covid-19 virus can produce a cytokine storm or shortage either of which can be fatal. Cytokine refers to a mini hormonal type substance. Hormones are produced by organs or glands, cytokines are produced by cells like macrophages, lymphocytes, etc. Cytokines are a cytokine that is produced in an inflammatory event an overwhelming response can destroy an essential organ (lung, liver, kidney, heart, brain). This is why the disease can kill like the hammer of Thor.
Coronaviruses are RNA viruses and require no transcriptase to convert them to a DNA active form as in a normal cellular process. So no transcriptase interference process or drug can stop the mayhem they cause. POTUS has declared himself a war President but has not invoked the actual authority to act to redeploy resources. The longer he waits on political advice the faster the pandemic races through the nation.
