Resources for Sleep, headaches and Covid
So much has happened since my last post! I find myself reading and reading and learning and then not taking the time to share nuggets of what I have learned. There is so much to read out there! And no end to new information. So here goes-what I have been reading and listening to. Not all is related to the Covid pandemic, so if you are tired of Covid news, keep reading for other information.
I seem to be on the list for all the new Summits. I have listened to some of the following:
Pain Solution Summit
Holistic Sleep Summit
Migraine World Summit
Your Best Sleep Ever Summit
Pandemic Recovery Summit
CBD Health Revolution
Genius of Your Genes
Our Health Talks with Dr. David Perlmutter- available on Youtube
I also listen to Podcasts:
Dr. Peter Attia- The Drive
Wild Health-lately with almost daily Covid updates
Broken Brain
The Doctor’s Farmacy with Dr. Mark Hyman
Bulletproof Radio with Dave Asprey
Revolution Health Radio with Chris Kresser
Other smart people:
David Sinclair, PhD- author of Lifespan, and researcher from Harvard. He has been publishing research based newsletters that are super informative. www.lifespanbook.com
Yikes! Can you tell I am a lifelong learner?
My goal is to share a few things that I have learned from some of these summits that might be of help to you.
SLEEP:
One helpful resource I learned listening to the Holistic Sleep Summit was the app called BrainTap. The creator is Patrick K Porter, PhD. www.braintap.com The app uses brainwave entrainment technology with a library of more than 400 guided audio programs and creative visualizations. They offer a free trial to check it out. I found that using the sleep visualizations to be very helpful in initiating sleep and sometimes I use it again if I wake during the night. The science is fascinating and if this interests you, check out the web site for more details. They also sell a headset that includes visual stimulation too, but I have not tried that, yet. I love trying new things! Hahaha…
HEADACHES:
There were some really interesting talks on the Migraine World Summit.(thanks Leisa!) One thing I learned was that Stanford University has a web site to help you evaluate your headaches in more detail and to be able to share a report with your physician. I have had chronic headaches for years and have gotten relief from imitrex, even though I do not have typical migraine headaches. So I took the survey on the website :
https://www.bontriage.com What I learned is that I probably do not have migraines, but my symptoms fit more into the diagnosis of Chronic Tension Headaches and Medication Overuse Headaches. It was eye opening! Since then, I have had fewer headaches and have not had to use imitrex! I think it helped for me to recognize that it was related to stress and tension so I can deal with that and try to avoid medication. Braintap helps with relaxation too!
COVID: (Also called Rona somewhere on the internet Hahaha)
So much information here that it is hard to know what to share. To me when I read stuff it feels like blah, blah, blah… until something jumps out and grabs your attention. Here are some brief nuggets:
The virus may start out in the back of the nose (nasopharynx) which is where the testing swabs try to reach. But maybe it moves down to your bronchi later in the illness which may explain the false negatives if testing isn’t done early. Then the bronchial secretions would test positive-but that is not done in drive-by testing. I haven’t seen research on this so just a theory.
t is likely that we all will “get” the virus at some point and most will have milder symptoms. But there are obviously some people, young and old, who are critically ill from Covid and who don’t survive. I have not read anything about how to predict which people will become critically ill ahead of time, other than the obvious risk factors of advanced age, chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma and immune compromise. But what about the younger people who have no known health issues? We don’t seem to know yet. Healthcare workers are at more risk because of the viral load that are exposed to.
Covid spreads by respiratory droplets-such as when we cough or sneeze, as well as aerosols- which can be in the air around us just from breathing and talking or singing. That is why the choir practice in early March in Washington state that included 60 asymptomatic adults resulted in 45 becoming ill with Covid and 2 of those dying. That is also why it makes sense to wear a mask if you have to be out in public, such as a quick trip to the grocery store. I’m still not sure why the CDC recommended against masks early on.
The Lifespan newsletter that was published today (4/2/2020) by David Sinclair, PhD, discussed how quickly the virus is mutating. It is interesting and a bit disturbing. It is behaving differently than most other viruses and very unpredictable. Mutations make it harder to develop an effective vaccine. I highly recommend his newsletter. He also has a facebook page at David A Sinclair.
One last thought. I was trying to figure out what the mortality is for people who become so sick with Covid that they require a ventilator to breath. This means having a tube placed into your trachea and then being on a machine that breathes for you. Obviously it is different depending on the person’s age and health. But, thinking about myself and others in the over 65 age range, if one of us requires intubation and support with a ventilator because of pneumonia and respiratory distress, how many of us would be able to come off the ventilator at some point and have functioning lungs? My google search and Pubmed search is not very encouraging. Once you get to that point in the disease, the mortality is very high. This is one more reason to be sure that you have an advanced directive and that it is up to date! If I learn more in this area, I will post an update.
Stay well out there! Social isolation seems to be helping the spread so far. Take care of yourself too! (Healthy food, fresh air, movement)