In 1817, James Parkinson published a paper titled, An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, that described his observations of abnormal movements in some individuals. Dr. Parkinson was an English surgeon who was better known in his day as a geologist and paleontologist. In 1804, he published a book on fossils titled, Organic Remains of a Former World. He wrote more books on fossils than he did on medicine. At that time in England, physicians were available to the wealthy and he broke this mold by writing numerous pamphlets on how to improve your health and seeing patients who could not pay.
When it comes to COVID-19 immunity, one of the issues people consider is whether to get a vaccine or acquire natural immunity through having an active COVID-19 infection. That means getting the virus rather than the vaccine shot.
The problem with natural immunity is having an active infection that is not benign. More than 800,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 in addition to multiple hospitalizations and quarantines. Of increasing concern is the “long COVID-19” problem of continued symptoms beyond one month. Fatigue, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, cough and combinations of those symptoms can persist over 50 percent of the time. In addition, physical symptoms of joint pain, headache, taste and smell are not uncommon. That does not include psychological, mental, memory issues of “foggy thinking,” poor concentration and anxiety/depression. A majority have noted a reduction in their quality of life.
A New York Times reporter in August of 2020 coined the term twindemic to describe the concern for an increase in both flu (influenza) and COVID-19 during the winter months of 2020. The good news is that a twindemic never occurred in 2020 but the word stuck. Twindemic is a portmanteau word. A portmanteau is when words are blended together to form a new meaning. The words are not combined together like starfish but rather are a mash of words. The word smog is a portmanteau mash up of smoke and fog that has become part of our vernacular.
Navneet Patti, MD, a physician who specializes in adult and child psychiatry, recently joined the Psychiatric Center of Northwest Ohio team at Caughman Health Center, a division of Blanchard Valley Health System.
Dr. Patti completed medical school at Guru Gobind Medical College in Faridkot, India. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University and her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at the University of Toledo Medical Center.
As Christmas music and movies play continuously on some stations, we might hear the song released on October 24, 1934 called “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” This song was first written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie and has been recorded by over 200 different artists. Some of the more well-known artists include Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Buble´ and Mariah Carey. In 2014, an a cappella version was released by Pentatonix. Many children are reminded of the lyrics “he’s making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.”
This famous song is not the only reference to naughty or nice. In 2012, the Hallmark Channel helped produce a Christmas television movie titled Naughty or Nice. This movie has not quite become a classic but some may remember it. The premise of the movie is that Santa’s book listing all of the naughty and nice children ends up in the hands of the character named Krissy Kringle and the book lists all these naughty things that she now knows.
There’s a pandemic. This one is specific to deer and, subsequently, should be of interest to deer hunters. It is called chronic wasting disease. Chronic wasting disease is similar to Mad Cow disease, as it is caused by a prion.
