The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 48 COVID patients today, 52 Thursday. Other significant numbers:
- 26 with the active virus today, 27 Thursday
- 4 in ICU, 5 Thursday
- 3 on a ventilator, 3 Thursday
Key points from today’s guests:
Julie French, patient
- Julie had 10 years of leg pain and it was so debilitating, she had to use a walker and take several medications.
- The bottom half of her body was not getting enough blood supply.
- She was diagnosed with severe atrial plaque choking off the blood supply to her legs and the only solution was surgery – an aorta bifemoral bypass.
- Three weeks later, she was off all of her pain medication she'd been on for more than a decade, joined a gym and had not only ditched her walker, but was back on the treadmill.
- The surgery changed her life. She is now planning to go hiking with her son in California.
Dr. Kara Hessel, vascular surgeon, The University of Kansas Health System
- Julie had a blockage in her aorta -- the main blood vessel that comes down from the heart and travels through the abdomen and then splits into and goes down into the legs.
- The blockage was actually from where her kidney arteries are going to come off and that entire area of blockage is the segment that needed to be replaced.
- Oftentimes, the pain in the legs that occurs at rest is due to that arterial plaque that's limiting the blood flow to their feet and that’s the driver for surgery.
- She quit smoking before the surgery as that was one of the biggest components of surgery because it can affect complications afterward and it can also decrease the longevity of any surgery.
- Make sure you see your primary care physician, and for your yearly physical, talk with them and let them know the issues that you're having so they can make those referrals get you to the right place for treatment.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The CDC officially says the flu shot provided substantial protection this flu season.
- Before flu season, they have to anticipate what the circulating influenza strains are likely to be and then put those into the vaccine. In this vaccine, they included four different strains – two A strains and two B strains.
- What this interim analysis showed was that it was extremely effective for an influenza vaccine.
- It has been 54 percent effective at preventing somebody who is 65 and under from having to seek medical treatment.
- It was 70 percent effective at preventing symptomatic illness in those people under 18.
Monday, February 27 is the next Morning Medical Update. New research on intermittent fasting is focused on not just “what” you eat, but “when” you eat and the impact on blood sugar for diabetics.
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