The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 58 COVID patients today, 53 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 38 with the active virus today, 34 yesterday
- 7 in ICU, 8 yesterday
- 2 on a ventilator, 3 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Rounds – Reactions to the Latest Health News
Alexis Del Cid, father diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
- Father was diagnosed in 2019, the day after his sister died from Alzheimer’s.
- There were no clear signs of Alzheimer’s leading up to his diagnosis, but there were little signs of the disease looking back.
- Navigating participatory grief is the hardest part.
- The inclination is to be private, but you do need members of the community to look out for him in public.
- Asking about their loved one can be a big help to family members dealing with it.
- Also, blogging and talking to others can also help family members.
Kausik Si, Ph. D., scientific director, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
- If we really want to study the disease, we need to look at the brain.
- How can you have clumping that causes memory loss when clumping also creates memories? This discovery is fascinating.
- We made tremendous progress in our understanding the cause of the disease and how to take care of patients.
- But we still have not able to come up with a treatment that really can resolve the disease in a way that we’d like to.
- We have a set of ideas we've been trying for a while, but our studies are suggesting and actually maybe there are another way to approach this problem in a completely new way. And we are hoping that over time, something will emerge from the studies.
- A healthy lifestyle – exercise, eating right – is good for the brain.
Dr. Jeff Burns, neurologist, co-director, KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center\
- There’s been so much research happening behind the scenes and we are elevating this research at the patient level.
- It will change how we diagnose and treat patients
- A new drug in tests at the Health System – lecanemab -- is making a positive difference. We expect FDA approval soon.
- You can get tested for the Alzheimer’s gene, but it’s only for risks, not for definitive diagnosis.
- Recognizing the difference between forgetfulness due to old age versus Alzheimer’s can be difficult, but the main factor is when the symptoms really cause problems with everyday habits.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of infection control and prevention, The University of Kansas Health System
- Scientists say they finally know why people get more colds and flu in the winter, but some of that has been looked at before and it’s hard to correlate that because we know it doesn't get cold in some of those equatorial regions.
- But we know that you can still have seasonal variation of viral transmission at that point.
- It's one more data point to look at and to look at the big picture, but I think we still certainly need more investigation into this area.
Wednesday, December 13 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. It's been nearly six months since The University of Kansas Cancer Center achieved Comprehensive status. A lot has happened including more funding for cancer trials to keep patients closer to home as well as the vision for a new research building. We share a six month checkup
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