Studies corner

[Branster]

There are so many snippets of information regarding small tests, case studies and even research from all over the world, some interesting, some surprising, some hopeful. Too many and too small or sometimes obscure to make the main news

If you’d like to share you are welcome to join the thread.

I’ll make a start with these findings from Canada about a potential inhibitor drug

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402144526.htm

Thanks @MichaelMumsnet

Measuring excess mortality: England is the European outlier in the Covid-19 pandemic

https://voxeu.org/article/excess-mortality-england-european-outlier-covid-19-pandemic

"According to EuroMOMO, which tracks excess mortality for 24 European states, England had the highest peak weekly excess mortality in total, for the over-65s, and, most strikingly, for the 15-64 age group. "
....
England eclipses all 24 countries covered by EuroMOMO in excess mortality scores.
....
The ONS records 21,182 registered deaths for the comparable week compared to a normal number of 9787 (averaging the previous five years).6
.....
This gives excess registered deaths of 11,395, and a P-score of 1.164.

For the same week, the ONS registered 8335 deaths as Covid-19-related, accounting for 73% of excess deaths.
Data on actual deaths, reported by The Economist, give a peak P-score of 1.134.

England’s peak rate of excess deaths for the most vulnerable age group, the over-65s, is also the highest ....
.....
Italy initially dominated the headlines for Covid-19-related deaths but ranked fourth for peak excess mortality figures for the over-65s, below Spain and Belgium.
In contrast, Germany, throughout the nine weeks in Figure 1 showed excess mortality well within the -2, +2 normal range.7

As a spot-check, P-scores were calculated from actual deaths and normal deaths, reported by The Economist.
Peak P and Z scores are compared in Table 3.
Within Europe, the rankings almost coincide.8

2015 Peer reviewed study:

'Low serum concentrations of 25(OH)-vitamin D might have a contributive role in the development of coronary artery complications observed in children with Kawasaki Disease'

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25994612

Study of health care staff at a maternity hospital - 6% had asymptomatic infections www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30403-5/fulltext

Anyone still here? Could we discuss aerosolised transmission

"aerosolised transmission"

Do you have a couple of papers on it ?

One for Trump:

www.medrxiv.org/

Comments (1)
Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

I read something last night about how the nhs are bulk buying that stuff incase it is helpful as a treatment (not thought to be preventative). It's also used for lupus and there's concerns there will be a shortage.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/uk-to-test-hydroxychloroqine-as-coronavirus-treatment

Just placemarking, thank you for all these. I'm especially interested in vitamin d level studies - I was tested and had less than 10mg/ul last year, and was never retested after a short phase of high concentration pills, so I'm quite worried about that.

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-could-anti-blood-clot-drugs-help-save-covid-19-patients-11990927?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter
I think blood clots are an extremely important factor that needs to be "out there" more. 30% of deaths from covid have been as a result of blood clots, and they are now starting to look at anti coagulent drugs. I want to know what this means for people who already have a genetic mutation which leaves them susceptible to clotting. Bame people feature high in this category.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52662065
Here's another link to blood clots, this time the bbc.

"Up to 30% of patients who are seriously ill with coronavirus are developing dangerous blood clots, according to medical experts.

They say the clots, also known as thrombosis, could be contributing to the number of people dying.

Severe inflammation in the lungs - a natural response of the body to the virus - is behind their formation."
From the bbc

Just placemarking, thank you for all these. I'm especially interested in vitamin d level studies - I was tested and had less than 10mg/ul last year, and was never retested after a short phase of high concentration pills, so I'm quite worried about that.

The NHS offers a vitamin D test by post for £29, if you wanted to check your current level:
www.vitamindtest.org.uk/

anyone deficient in vitamin D after taking supplements would need to look at how they have taken it. There is a mouth spray available if there are absorption issues. The standard recommendation is to eat more foods containing vitamin D - but they say that even to people already eating a lot of these
Fatty fish, like tuna (not tinned) , mackerel, and salmon.
Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals.
Beef liver.
Cheese.
Egg yolks.
Mushrooms.

youtu.be/qoJ4VDaGSfY this is a really good video by a Dr about the research on blood clots in Covid 19 and the reason why they happen even when the patient has anticoagulant treatment about 7 minutes until 13 minutes is a good p
starting point

That's a really good video Didkdt.

Isn't it? He explains the research findings really well.

Thank you for the link PowerPanda. And thanks alreadytaken, I've started a daily supplement and eating a lot of eggs and salmon, but if I find I still have low levels after that I'll look into the spray.

@BigChocFrenzy aerosolised transmission paper. I will add more. I think this has been highly understated as a means of transmission. The WHO say it doesn't happen in daily life apart from in hospitals when aerosol causing procedures are carried out. However, very many scientists believe this to be a significant mode of transmission. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163445310003476

More on aerosol transmission www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163445310003476

www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-study-idUSKBN2143QP

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021850217302239

This was from the numbers thread but interesting enough to share www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.18.20105197v1

Thank you, oldbagface
Coughing, sneezing, singing, shouting - the latter often happens in crowds - look significant.
Currently the only measures to tackle these risks appear to be social distancing and banning large crowds

NHS England: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 related mortality in England: a whole population study

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/05/nhs-expands-offer-of-help-to-people-with-diabetes-during-coronavirus-outbreak/

Summary:

people living with type 1 diabetes are at three and a half times the risk, and
people living with type 2 are at double the risk
of dying in hospital with the virus, compared to people without diabetes.

However, by far the strongest risk factor for dying with the virus is age,
and people with type 1 diabetes are on average younger than people with type 2 diabetes.

Overall, 7,466 of those who died in hospitals in England had type 2
and 365 who died had type 1 diabetes

and the research suggests that the threat for those under 40 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes is very low, with no recorded deaths in those under 20.

The study also shows that in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes,
even when all other known factors are taken into account,
higher blood glucose levels and obesity are linked to higher risk.
.....
⏺ The overall death rate for people with diabetes doubled during the early stage of the pandemic.

⏺ In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, men, people of black or Asian ethnicity, and people living in more deprived communities, were at higher risk.

⏺ In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, those with pre-existing kidney disease, heart failure and previous stroke, were also at higher risk.

Professor Jonathan Valabhji, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity and lead author of the study said:

“This research shows the extent of the risk of coronavirus for people with diabetes
and the different risks for those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

“Importantly, it also shows that higher blood glucose levels and obesity further increase the risk in both types of diabetes.