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Director’s message
Six months into the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, we’re also entering the months of intense election campaigning leading up to the November elections - which means that if your inbox is anything like mine, it’s probably overloaded with all too many emotional appeals to your wallet, your vote, and/or your attention. Despite the urge to ignore them all, as the recent wildfires in Northern California proved, it’s dangerous to just tune out - so perhaps the sanest option is to identify news sources you can trust, and check in with those on a semi-regular basis.
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PlaneTree Health Library steers clear of political, sensational, and possible-but-not-yet-proven news; our online guides, publications, and social media posts focus on information we can reliably use now to protect our health, our families, and our communities.
If you’re watching your news diet, you can check in with our online Coronavirus and COVID-19 guide once a week or so and feel confident that you’re up to date. (For example, in the last few days we added details on the revised stages for reopening California businesses that will go into effect on September 1.) On the other hand, if you find yourself suddenly on alert for wildfire danger, our new online guide to Wildfire Information and Recovery Resources is a handy one-stop place to find links to emergency services and information for Santa Clara County. (We’ll expand it to include disaster recovery resources in the coming weeks.
May we all stay healthy, informed, and resilient!
Lise M. Dyckman
Executive Director, PlaneTree Health Library
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...take vitamin D to avoid catching COVID-19?
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Maybe. While it has not been proven to prevent infection, several research studies have linked a deficiency of vitamin D to weaker immune systems, and at least one report links vitamin D deficiency to COVID-19 specifically. In August, a report in the medical journal The Lancet advised that raising vitamin D levels “might also reduce the impact of COVID-19 in populations where vitamin D deficiency is prevalent; there is nothing to lose from their implementation, and potentially much to gain.” The NIH lists the recommended healthy vitamin D levels for children and adults. If you’re concerned that you might be low on vitamin D, you can increase it by: adding vitamin D-rich foods to your diet; increasing the amount of time your skin is directly exposed to sunlight; and/or taking a supplement. If using vitamin D supplements, don’t take high doses - the National Institutes of Health warns “Vitamin D toxicity almost always occurs from overuse of supplements.” With vitamin D it’s definitely NOT a case of “if some is good, more is better” - studies have found that taking more than 1,000 IU per day could cause harm to the very things it helps at smaller doses.
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...set a goal of 10,000 steps to make sure I get enough exercise?
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Counting steps is an easy way to measure activity - but how many is enough? According to MedlinePlus, “less than 4,000 steps each day is considered a low level of physical activity. A common recommendation is a goal of 10,000 steps a day, but recent studies have shown that you will see health benefits even if you take fewer than 10,000 steps. They also suggest that the total number of steps per day is more important than the level of intensity. The takeaway message is to move more and sit less throughout the day. Find out how to fit more exercise into your day.”
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...get a flu shot this year?
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Absolutely yes! The possibility of coming down with both flu and COVID-19 is a dangerous combination, for each of us individually and for our potentially-overloaded healthcare facilities.
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...keep checking the news for possible wildfire warnings?
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Unfortunately, when it comes to emergency situations where every minute counts, local news reporting isn’t always quick enough. Better to sign up to get messages or phone calls from your county’s emergency warning system (like these emergency alert systems used in the Bay Area counties).
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...use a home remedy for cough due to smoke irritation?
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One of the best home remedies for a dry cough may already be in your pantry - and it’s also one of the sweetest. Honey’s soothing and antiseptic properties have out-performed many over-the-counter cough suppressants, and is particularly useful for kids (but don’t feed honey to babies!).
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...go out of state to get a haircut?
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While we’re not going to comment on whether you need a haircut or not, you may not need to travel to get one. California recently announced an update to its staged recovery plan for the entire state, to go into effect September 1, 2020. The stages for what businesses can operate (and how they can operate) are very similar to the earlier plan, but now you can quickly find what’s open by type of business for counties throughout the state.
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...send my kid to in-person school this year?
(UPDATED)
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While most schools in the Bay Area have already started their fall terms online, if this is still an open question for your family, two new online decision-making tools may help to calculate the risks of sending your child to school - or college, or daycare - this fall.
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IN DEPTH:
Sometimes we have to make emergency plans when there are other health concerns too.
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Recent fires in Northern California are reminding us all not just to have a grab-and-go kit ready for emergencies, but to take the time to make more complete emergency evacuation plans in case we have to be away from home for more than just a few hours. (A good place to look for information to create your own plan is CalFire’s guides and checklists; another starting point is this guide.) Be sure that you have signed up for automatic county emergency as described in the Should I…? section above. It’s also a good idea to make a plan for how to manage if there’s a power outage that lasts longer than just a short time.
But what if someone in your house has a chronic illness, needs power to operate medical devices, is disabled, or is medically extra vulnerable? Here are some things to think about:
- The CDC publishes emergency preparedness guides for people with chronic illness (including specific information for people with cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, and high blood pressure).
- If making an emergency plan for an older adult, see the CDC’s older adults guide, and AARP’s preparedness information for family caregivers. (If caring for someone with dementia, check out the National Institute on Aging’s guide and the Alzheimer’s Association guide.)
- If there are babies in the family, see the CDC’s preparedness guides for expectant or new parents and/or for infants.
- Sign up for automatic outage alerts from PG&E, preferably on a land-line phone or cell phone that you keep charged up. Consider participating in PG&E’s Medical Baseline program (customers who qualify have some advantages in emergency situations, in addition to a lower electricity bill).
- And because this year is extra complicated, take a look at this article on calculating evacuation risks during a pandemic.
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IN DEPTH:
Travel restrictions during this pandemic
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After six months of sheltering in place, many people have wanderlust. But SARS-CoV-2 is still raging around the globe. In addition to our personal considerations of the risk involved in travelling, state and national governments have also put restrictions on travel. Many countries have closed their borders to everyone but their own citizens, and more countries are closed to travelers with a U.S. passport. (The U.S. has closed its borders to international travel too.)
Travel between states in the U.S. has also been restricted, which may come as a surprise. Many states now require that travellers entering the state quarantine themselves for 14 days. For those who still plan to travel within those limitations, here are recommendations drawn from several sources:
- Get a swab SARS-CoV-2 test a week before the trip (to allow time to get the test results back before leaving). If the test comes back positive, cancel the trip.
- While waiting for test results, practice rigorous social distancing and mask-wearing (otherwise, the result of that pre-trip test is irrelevant).
- Maintain rigorous social distancing, mask-wearing, and sanitizing as you travel.
- Get tested again when you arrive at your destination (ideally, four days after arrival, to allow time for any exposure to reach detectable levels). Quarantine yourself for 14 days, or until the test results come back negative.
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IN DEPTH:
Knee replacement surgery
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While SARS-CoV-2 has dominated our awareness since February, and most elective surgeries have been cancelled or postponed for months, other health concerns have not disappeared. One of those is knee pain and joint damage. When injuries to the knee joint - from arthritis, accidents, worn or torn cartilage - are at the point of no repair, your health care team may suggest replacing the joint itself with a mechanical implant. This is an increasingly common procedure. The numbers of total knee joint replacement surgeries have been increasing at a fast pace over the last 10 years, and are expected to continue growing over the next decade or more. But is it the best thing for you? It’s a good idea to explore options, weigh the pros and cons, and to ask your health care team lots (and lots!) of questions - and perhaps even get a consult or second opinion, depending on your specific situation. The success of joint replacement surgeries often depend on how much preparation the patient and their care team put in, before and after surgery.
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Trust it or trash it? Evaluating health information in the age of novel coronavirus
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Thursday Sept. 10, 4-5pm
PlaneTree Health Library, FREE
(pre-registration required)
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