Coronavirus and homemade tools

[f800]

This is an incorrect procedure for storage. In the operating room, we have to re use our N 95 mask. It is kept in a light paper bag to help the air borne droplets desiccate . Specifically instructed not to keep in a plastic bag ( this sealed container would have the same effect). Anesthesia personnel are at high risk when instrumenting the airway at the induction and emergence of surgery

[Jon]

Thanks guys. I'm handling a copy-pasted version of this just-the-flu position here. I'm deeply familiar with how shaky this position is, for various different reasons (which I'm happy to see our guys already know), and I also understand how WND is subtly quoting the NEJM article out of context.

It's OK to include some brief discussion here to address people's concerns as to why this really is serious, but I'll make sure this thread stays on track. We have a great discussion here with relevant and helpful homemade tools and ideas, and if it strays too far, I can just move some posts into another thread where people can discuss a just-the-flu position to their hearts' content.

The numbers are worsening so rapidly now that the best move seems to be to show people the data, then wait a few days for it to get even worse, then check in with them again. I remember when Wuhan first went on lockdown, and I convinced myself that it was just the flu. Part of "we're all in this together" is that we all go through the same cycle of disbelief when we encounter information on the virus.

[old kodger]

Jon, I appreciate your concerns here and your efforts to rationalize the discussion on HMT, but if my comprehension of the situation in China, is correct, it's all done and dusted. Where the "western world" economies are all around minus 24/26%, China's is positive 3%, got to be more going on here than covid19.

[hemmjo]

.....Where the "western world" economies are all around minus 24/26%, China's is positive 3%, got to be more going on here than covid19.

There are VERY SCARY statistics, way more disconcerting than the Virus itself!!!

[FEM2008]

Jon, I appreciate your concerns here and your efforts to rationalize the discussion on HMT, but if my comprehension of the situation in China, is correct, it's all done and dusted. Where the "western world" economies are all around minus 24/26%, China's is positive 3%, got to be more going on here than covid19.

During the 1918 pandemic, cities and states that took the most aggressive measures and sacrificed the most were the ones that bounced back the quickest and had the best economic boom. The number of confirmed cases in the US is increasing by over 20k every day (as of yesterday) and doubling every few days, while China has had fewer than a 1000 cases almost all week. They are in the recovery while the rest of the world is still out of control. Other countries that took hard measures early are beginning to see their economy improve as well.
It seems we failed to learn from our own history.

[Big Sexy]

If I understand what you are saying, I am thinking it is because it has already mutated at least twice and maybe more. I also will add, I think there is a load of information being withheld from the civilians all around the world. I can’t help but wonder about genetic predisposition with this. Because it makes no logical sense I can find about who it affects the worse. There has been very healthy and physically fit people die from it, but some very elderly it barely affects if they even contract it. The only thing I can think of that makes any sense is some sort of genetic cause and effect. Also seen that China has released info about some of the autopsy’s they have done that show up to 20% cardiac damage in patients that had no history of cardiac problems.
Now I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist for the simple fact that I do not trust any government agency or federally level politician and high level state politicians. So with that said, it seems quite possible that information is being kept from us for some reason. If they can develop test that can determine if you are infected in minutes instead of days over the course of a few months, they have to know much more about the workings of this virus and are not sharing it.

[f800]

That is incorrect. Due to shortages, we have to reuse our N 95 in the operating room. Anesthesia personnel are at high risk for infection due to instrumenting the airway at the beginnings by and the end of the case. It is recommended that the N95 mask be stored in a light paper bag to help dessicate the virus. Plastic bag is contraindicated and the plastic box functions the same way.

[Jon]

Pauling's advocacy of mega-doses of vitamin C has been widely discredited, as has his concept of Orthomolecular medicine.

Advocating treatments such as this - which our best data tell us are very close to or equal to placebo in almost all situations - is harmful to people, because, even if the treatments have no effect, promoting them convinces people to prevent or delay the application of evidence-based treatment. This is especially true for Pauling's proposal to treat cancer with mega-dosing of vitamins. If you're interested in the complexities of the placebo effect, Harvard's Program in Placebo Studies is a good place to start.

There is a really narrow possible benefit of vitamin C supplementation, mostly for athletes, and there is some evidence that it may shorten the duration of colds for some people. And, of course, vitamin C supplementation can help people who are vitamin C deficient anyway (like all vitamins).

There is one study that intravenous vitamin C might help lower death rate in sepsis victims, and another study that vitamin C might help patients with sepsis and ARDS. There is no evidence that vitamin C will help prevent covid infection, and mega-dosing vitamin C can actually increase the risk of kidney stones.

Individual testimonials as to the value of mega-dosing vitamins may have correlated with positive effects for those individuals, and those individuals may be honestly sharing their personal experiences in a good-faith effort to help others. However, those effects do not present themselves when tested in larger populations, which strongly suggests - no surprise - that correlation is not causation.

Health improvements that laypeople attribute to practices such as vitamin mega-dosing are more likely caused by other activities that those people practice because they are more attentive to their health than average people. For example, someone may eat well, exercise daily, and mega-dose on vitamin C, and that person may attribute his improved health to vitamin C, when really he is healthy because he's participating in universally agreed-upon good health practices.

Some resources:

-Cochrane Review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
-NEJM: Failure of High-Dose Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) Therapy to Benefit Patients with Advanced Cancer — A Controlled Trial
-NEJM: High-Dose Vitamin C versus Placebo in the Treatment of Patients with Advanced Cancer Who Have Had No Prior Chemotherapy — A Randomized Double-Blind Comparison
-Harvard Medical School Coronavirus Resource Center

The New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Cochrane Reviews are our most credible sources of medical information.

This Quackwatch article on Pauling is also good: The Dark Side of Linus Pauling's Legacy

This site, and especially this thread, isn't the place to push pseudo-medical treatments like vitamin mega-dosing, or low-quality news sources like WND. If someone wants to mention medically questionable advice once, fine. However, repeatedly pushing it isn't acceptable. Stop doing it, or I'll ban you.

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Now, back to homemade tools. I like this 3D-printed hands-free door opening system. By Matthew Davis. 0:38 video:

This DIY mask with replaceable breathing filters is a very early prototype, but it's extremely creative, very low-buck, and has a lot of idea value.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...s_fullsize.jpg






Finally, some humor. Hat tip to mklotz for this page of coronavirus jokes. I especially like this photo for its sad-but-true quality:



And, no day would be complete without some toilet paper jokes. Here we have a good comic:



And a GIF of a corona-alchemist turning paper into gold:

[Jon]

I've moved two posts from this thread into the Site Suggestions and Help forum, where anyone is welcome to discuss them there.

[Jon]

Machined mask mold, by Abo_91, a machinist in Italy. This is a good contrast to the Pringles can mask above. Click each one to play.







Also, I'm liking these memes that remind us how our culture is changing, with clever modifications to culturally iconic images.