Another slight uptick in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated at The University of Kansas Health System today. 30 with the active virus are being treated, up from 29 yesterday. Of those patients, nine are in the ICU, down from 11 yesterday. Five of those ICU patients are on ventilators today, the same as yesterday. 46 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 49 yesterday. That’s a total of 76 patients, down from 78 yesterday. In addition, HaysMed has a total of 19 COVID-19 inpatients, down from 20 yesterday, with nine of those active patients and 10 in the recovery phase.
On today’s Morning Media Update, Are you having trouble sleeping since the pandemic? Dr. Nancy Stewart, pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine expert joined us to share what she's discovered by following the sleep habits of front line workers.
Dr. Stewart says most sleep problems come from worry, stress and anxiety. Her advice is to shut off all electronics two hours before bedtime. Even better, she says, you need to get up at the same time every morning, even on weekends, to regulate your circadian rhythm so that you’ll be tired at bedtime. She took part in a large international research study aimed at healthcare workers and their sleep during the pandemic. She found 90% of them felt they had poor sleep, and a third of them screened positive for moderate to severe insomnia, which she calls “frightening.” And she says more than 60% reported sleep disruption due to device usage, what some commonly refer to as “doom scrolling,” which could mean lying in bed searching for the latest COVID-19 news. She says it’s OK to take 3-5 milligrams of melatonin to help you sleep because it’s a naturally occurring hormone, and it’s safe for pregnant women. But she strongly advises against sleep aids such as Ambien, which are for short-term use only. She has to help wean many of her patients off of those medications over a long period of time. She compares sleep and mental health to an old married couple saying if one is not happy then the other is not happy. She described the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea and said about 90% of patients who have it go undiagnosed. She said wine and alcohol before bed may help you relax and get to sleep, but it can wake you up in the middle of the night, making you groggy the next day. As for weighted blankets, she says if it helps you, great, but don’t go out and buy the most expensive and fanciest one. Cold rooms, she advises, are the best for sleeping, with an ideal temperature between 65 and 67 degrees.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, said it’s likely the South African variant is in the country, along with the UK version, and the worry is the current vaccines may not be as effective against it. He also says the vaccine might not be as effective for people taking prednisone but says their doctor would know best. He agrees good sleep is vital for both mental and physical health.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health system, says his biggest concern is when the weather gets warmer, people will begin to gather again, and with the virus variants in the community, there’s no guarantee the vaccines will be as effective against them. That’s why he says we must continue to wear our masks for the foreseeable future. He says pandemics are hard enough without having sleep problems as well.
Thursday, February 11 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. What if your doctor could prescribe you a pill or give you a shot to treat your COVID symptoms? Dr. Mario Castro, pulmonologist and researcher, will join us to talk about new clinical trials testing three new outpatient treatments that may be game changers for COVID patients. They include an oral pill, an injection and a medication that can be inhaled through a nebulizer. Nearly all COVID patients are eligible for these new trials. There's no need to be older or high-risk to participate.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants: For those without Zoom, call 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
