Medical Science

Something I was thinking about the other day. With our advances in the fields of in vitro fertilization and cellular manipulation, is it theoretically possible that we could, for lack of a better term, ‘engineer’ a person so that they literally have two biological mothers and no father per se? I’m not talking about in the sense of one woman providing the egg and the second woman providing the womb to carry it, though of course they could do that as well I suppose. Obviously in that case, only one of them would truly be their biological mother in the genetic sense (to be clear, I’m not making any sort of normative or judgmental claim here, I’m merely illustrating the thing…

https://pagesix.com/2022/03/28/judd-apatow-says-will-smith-could-have-killed-chris-rock/ What is the probability that one slap could have caused someone to lose their balance, fall, and hit their head in a life-endangering manner? How does this compare to, let's say, every day risks like the risk of driving, or not-as-everyday risks like the risks of getting hit by lightning when standing outside in a thunderstorm?

I think the 'deaths' graphs are the most important, here are the latest Feb/March 2022 graphs which are interesting because they show how the figures go up and down like a roller coaster. Why are there such widely varying peaks and troughs, is it because of seasons of the year or what? https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I got symptoms Sunday afternoon (chills which evolved into a fever and general weakness which was later joined by a headache). At one point I collapsed on my way to the bathroom. By Monday evening, the symptoms were largely gone and this morning I'm symptom free. We did a COVID test, but my mother rubbed the q tip inside my nose cavity, not the area behind the nose, so, although the test came back negative, I don't know whether I can trust it. I'm double Pfizer vaxxed, though ma last dose was in July. With all this in mind, do I need to get tested before going outside, or can I take my absence of symptoms to mean that if this WAS COVID, I'm no longer contag…

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/03/03/1083751272/striking-new-evidence-points-to-seafood-market-in-wuhan-as-pandemic-origin-point Given how intertwined this is with stats, I was almost considering posting this in the math subforum. But since there were other elements to it, I figured I'd post it here. I'm open to re-evaluating my views on the lab leak theory, but there are still a few questions lingering in my mind. A: They don't name the specific studies by name, and claim that said studies are just "preliminary"; does this mean they've yet to be published? If so, how will we know where to find them once they are published? Until th…

Hello, is it true that chyme (the liquid result of hydrochloric acid in the stomach breaking down our food) can solidify again into feces? I was under the impression that we don't have a freezer in our stomach, so there's no way it would solidify again right?

I would like to know the name of the device used to examine the eyes and the retina such as used to check a diabetics eyes for changes. Photos/pictures can be taken. I will describe what they look like. They have a chin rest and eye piece which focuses on the eye and they have a lens to magnify. A person will sit in front of it and put their chin on the chin rest so that the operator can take the pictures of the retina. I have searched and searched but cannot find the name of it. I have checked ophthalmology devices, companies selling such devices to opticians etc but have not found the name of it. Can anyone name the item that I am thinking about? [EDIT] F…

Here are today's UK figures from the BBC Note how the hospitilisation and then deaths lag behind the cases, but they are now catching up.

What is the latest evidence on how long it takes for a person who catches COVID to be no longer able to transmit the virus? I'm sure there's variability, but what's the upper limit of how long a person can be a transmitter?

I was wondering how pyridine affects the body in such a way that it would cause impotence, as I work in a lab where it is used often. Would impotence by pyridine make the use of Viagra nulified, or would Viagra be able to stimulate the areas of the body which would otherwise be broken down by the pyridine.

May be there is some scientific interpretation? 8IDl2p_PvmA

Once everyone has been vaccinated, is it to be expected that COVID will simply die off in lieu of any further hosts or will it be forever bouncing around like the flu, opportunistically infecting the odd unvaccinated person or the 5% of the vaccinated (as the vaccines are supposed to be 95% effective) whose defenses it manages to get past?

A very recent study by workers at Bristol University that is awaiting its peer review suggest that covid looses its infectivity as it dries out. The study concerned particles in the air and found that at 50% RH the particles quickly dried out compared to 90% RH, as they spread, and so the effective range was decreased at low RH. I wonder if this is part of the reason why countries with persistent high RH, such as the UK and Eire experienced greater infection rates than drier ones. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/11/covid-loses-90-of-ability-to-infect-within-five-minutes-in-air-study

Details discussed in the full article here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59960949

I know placebo can have sensory or psychological effects like reducing pain or anxiety or fatigue and some effects that are sort of physical like increasing heart beat rate or blood pressure, but these can be controlled by psychological factors (like being upset), is there any evidence that placebo can have effects that are entirely physical?

What are the chances of there being a human being who can't tell a lie, in any way, no matter how hard they try? If so, would they classify it as genetic or mental disorder? Then there's the situation of what advantages/disadvantages of never being able to lie. If you're trying to protect a friend's privacy (embarrassing habits or interests), not everyone will know right away to simply tell them "I'm not allowed to say.". Or even government secrets for your country from their enemies. Maybe it would allow for easier marriages between 2 people, I know that would be more likely.

I was under the impression the N95 masks are the best, but recently I heard from someone (who tends to be knowledgeable about these things, but, of course, not beyond scrutiny) that the masks with the filters/valves on them are the best. Is there any science that settles the question of which type of mask provides the best protection? There's a table giving stats for various types of masks here, but I can't really make heads or tails of these metrics, maybe someone can explain. Flow rate? Inhalation and exhalation resistance? Is more or less better? etc. EDIT: I see now that both the N95 and the european FFP2 come in valve and valveless varities. Anyone know how…

Recently there was a freedom of information request for the Japanese government to release data on the Pfizer vaccine. That request yielded bio-distribution data on the lipid nanoparticles that carry the mRNA in the body. I will post a chart which summarizes the data from the FOIA request and also the report itself (Japanese and English). My question is, looking at this bio-distribution data which shows large concentrations of the lipid nanoparticles collecting in the bone marrow and ovaries post vaccination, what long term potential side effects might be anticipated in individuals who received the Pfizer vaccine? Summary of bio-distribution of lipid nanopar…

Are you in favor of COVID-19 Mandatory vaccinations? #deltavariant Mandatory COVID vaccinations: Are they coming to a European company near you?

The Delta Variant is progressing and now infects people vaccinated in France * Will it last to the point of wondering if its evolution of the mutaion at the level of the Spike protein would be possible over the variants to make the vaccine deficient? And to spend the whole Greek alphabet there? Indeed the vaccine does not prevent it from remaining and the epidemic will not over until a natural extension of it? * The Delta variant has mainly affected people already vaccinated in the Landes nursing home Le variant Delta a touché en majorité des personnes déjà vaccinées dans l’Ehpad des Landes

I've heard so much conflicting information on this topic and it seems like there are studies to prove every position you want to take on it. The most popular view seems to be however that the standard surgical masks that people most frequently wear stop you from infecting others, but don't protect you, whereas there's some other type of mask that protects both you and other people, is this in fact what the science suggests? What kind of protection do the cloth masks provide?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200615140921.htm Administration of a peptide that changes gut bacteria results in -40% plaque size after 10 weeks although in mice not humans. What do you think of this?

what it means to have elevated Igg A? all other immunoglobulins normal.

You often heard about how a mother being advanced in age is bad for the child she is bearing and I'm wondering, is that exclusively because it raises the risk of miscarriage or are there actually negative health effects that are passed on to the child as a result of the mother's age and what are the negative effects specifically?

I won't press this any further, thanks for the responses and the patience. Let me just ask you something unrelated to the vaccines, if we can take the thread on a very brief digression and if this is a topic you know about: This business about eliminating lipids got me thinking about something I've often wondered (and worried) about, which is mercury in fish. You'll usually hear that you SHOULD eat fish, but not more than x servings of such and such fish a week. Is that because if you don't cross a certain threshold of mercury in a given time it will get eliminated without having an effect, whereas if you go beyond that it doesn't get eliminated quick enoug…