COVID-19 Precautions to Reduce Risk of Transmission and Illness

There are well-known basic protective measures to prevent spread of viral illnesses like COVID-19 including washing hands frequently, stay home, avoid touching your face, maintain social distancing, cleaning surfaces routinely , wear a mask , etc. However, there are also some interesting reports of other interventions that may provide further protection that one may not know about. 1) Published back in 2004, researchers noted that daily saline nasal spray  (plain old saltwater) use appears…

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What is the Normal Body Temperature? The Fact and Alternative Fact

1800s Wunderlich Thermometer (the thermometer is over 12 inches long) If you said 98.6°F, you are wrong... Of course you are just parroting back what you were told by your teachers, family, friends, colleagues... well pretty much everybody since 1871. That year, Dr. Carl Wunderlich at Leipzig University in Germany published a book called " On the Temperature in Diseases: A Manual of Medical Thermometry ." Dr. Wunderlich took the temperatures of over 25,000 patients under his ca…

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Soft Teddy Bear that Measures Pulse, Temperature, and Oxygen Saturation When Held

At the CES 2014 , a company introduced a soft, plush teddy bear that children (and even adults) all over would love. For physicians who care for children, it's not so much on the outside that matters, but what is in the inside as apparently, it is full of sensors that enables the teddy bear to pick up essential vital signs of the child who is playing with it. Called " Teddy the Guardian ," it is unclear from reports exactly how pulse, temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen …

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Nasal Congestion Affected By How Well the Nose is Able to Cool Itself

Researchers at Monell Chemical Senses Center have figured out that nasal congestion is influenced by more than just nasal airflow. Apparently temperature and humidity influence the perception of nasal congestion just as much as how physically obstructed the nose is. By having volunteers breath air with variations in temperature and humidity, they have determined that cool and dry air minimizes nasal congestion without any change in how open the nasal cavity is. By taking into account …

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Shape of Human Nose Influenced by Climate

The basic function of the human nose is to warm and humidify the air before it reaches the lungs. Because of the wide variation of human habitats from the polar cold and dry air to the equatorial hot and humid weather, one would expect the nose to accommodate to these climate extremes accordingly thru evolutionary pressures. In essence, logically one would expect the nose to change shape to enhance time that air is in contact with the warm and moist nasal interior in cold and dry climates c…

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Cold Urticaria (aka, Allergy to Cold Temperatures)

Fox 10 News did a story on Cold Urticaria which basically is an allergy to cold temperatures. With cold temperature exposure whether it be cold air, ice cube, or even ice cream, it can cause an allergic reaction resulting in lip swelling, drop in blood pressure, rash, significant itchiness, etc. There has even been cases where a person will go into anaphylactic shock if they jump into a cold swimming pool. Oddly enough, the symptoms typically occur AFTER warming up after a cold exposure due …

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