In the news

More evidence that vaccines save lives – and it’s not the COVID vaccine

            Sickle cell disease occurs when the hemoglobin  molecule that carries oxygen in the blood undergoes a mutation that distorts the shape of red blood cells into a curve that resembles a sickle – hence the obvious name. Unable to swish smoothy through small blood vessels, the cells pile up and lead to obstructions that cause pain in various parts of the body and can lead to stroke when those blood vessels happen to be in the brain. The condition is highly prevalent among those of African descent and often causes death in early childhood.

            These children are susceptible to infection by the pneumococcus, a bacterium that is a common cause of pneumonia – another obvious designation – and that causes overwhelming infection in sickle cell patients. The development of highly effective vaccines against the pneumococcus in the 1980s dramatically reduced the prevalence of these infections in the entire population but especially among persons with sickle cell disease.

            According to a study from Europe the relative frequency of disease caused by the pneumococcal strains contained in the current vaccines has diminished, so that another nasty germ, salmonella, has taken its place as the leading cause of infection among children with sickle cell disease. There is no widely available vaccine against salmonella.

            Only about 60 percent of affected children in Europe in this study had received the pneumococcal vaccine although it also reduces the risk of ear infection, pneumonia and meningitis caused by vaccine-associated strains. It’s clear that this vaccine, like almost all others, is effective. It’s also clear that too few children are receiving optimal medical care even in the developed world.

Lifestyle

Exercise doesn’t do much to help you lose weight, but do it anyway.

            It’s painful to watch them, severely overweight individuals slowly pedaling away on a stationary bike at the fitness center, or languidly performing exercises on a machine. Most of them have probably been told that they need to exercise in order to lose weight, but even sweat-producing exercise has little to do with weight loss. I have noticed that I seldom see those folks again after only about one week!

            Having said that, it is vitally important to engage in moderately intense physical activities while cutting calories – the most important step in getting rid of excess fat – but not for the reason that most people think. People who seriously cut back on food intake, a.k.a. calories, will lose weight, but as much as half of that lost weight comes from muscle tissue, not from fat. Exercising not only preserves muscle, but it may add some, so that you might (frustratingly) see little change on the bathroom scale but you will see your belly begin to shrink. Remember that your goal is to lose fat, not weight.