My Brand of Poison #SARSCoV2 – Eight #LessonsLearned from 22 #Covid19 Rapid Tests

First published: 20221224   Latest Updates: 20230118 (Work-In-Progress version, I hope to add more, including useful links to the full text entry at the bottom. And hopefully add a few more tweets to make it to the promised Eight Lessons! :)

I recently tested Covid19 positive. Two weeks later (20221224), I live to share my stories.

My Brand of Poison #SARSCoV2 – Eight #LessonsLearned from 22 #Covid19 Rapid Tests
I recently tested Covid19 positive. Two weeks later, I live to share my stories. pic.twitter.com/j3QfMO5KlS

— Kempton Lam @Kempton@mas.to 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@Kempton) December 24, 2022

Lesson 1: Covid #RAT test before attending events with friends & loved ones (or even strangers). You don’t want to spread Covid to people and get them seriously sick or even dead. The guilt I would have felt if I got any one of them seriously sick. I don’t want to risk that.

Lesson 1: Covid #RAT test before attending events with friends & loved ones (or even strangers). You don’t want to spread Covid to people and get them seriously sick or even dead. The guilt I would have felt if I got any one of them seriously sick. I don’t want to risk that. pic.twitter.com/wQWMzHA7uB

— Kempton Lam @Kempton@mas.to 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@Kempton) December 24, 2022

Lesson 2 Backstory: In the recent months, I’ve elderly friends & relatives testing #Covid19 positive. Sadly, their friends, loved ones, family members & even their medical doctors had NOT heard of the potentially #lifesaving (+major risks reducing) Covid therapeutics #Paxlovid…

Lesson 2 Backstory: In the recent months, I’ve elderly friends & relatives testing #Covid19 positive. Sadly, their friends, loved ones, family members & even their medical doctors had NOT heard of the potentially #lifesaving (+major risks reducing) Covid therapeutics #Paxlovid… pic.twitter.com/CObuSribLH

— Kempton Lam @Kempton@mas.to 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@Kempton) January 4, 2023

Lesson 2: If my elderly 65+ loved ones were to test Covid positive, I’ll make sure their MDs look at using #Paxlovid to reduce risk of serious cases/death. MDs’ “never used Paxlovid before” are bad reasons. Find trusted MDs that have prescribed it & know how2 use it properly…

Lesson 2: If my elderly 65+ loved ones were to test Covid positive, I’ll make sure their MDs look at using #Paxlovid to reduce risk of serious cases/death. MDs’ “never used Paxlovid before” are bad reasons. Find trusted MDs that have prescribed it & know how2 use it properly… pic.twitter.com/tEp61yIMTb

— Kempton Lam @Kempton@mas.to 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@Kempton) January 4, 2023

Note: Link to #JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) – Original Investigation – Infectious Diseases research “Incidence of Viral Rebound After Treatment With Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir and Molnupiravir” (Note: Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir = Paxlovid)

Note: Link to #JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) – Original Investigation – Infectious Diseases research “Incidence of Viral Rebound After Treatment With Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir and Molnupiravir” (Note: Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir = Paxlovid) https://t.co/0ElxXHvh6G

— Kempton Lam @Kempton@mas.to 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@Kempton) January 4, 2023

P.S. Sorry4 taking longer than I hope2 share my #Covid19 lessons. So far (as of 20230118), I only had time to share two good lessons so far. In the mean time, wishing you all the best & good health in 2023! #Covid19 is NOT over. But we (countries w good supply of mRNA vax & effective therapeutics like #Paxlovid) are in good positions 2fight #Covid

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Full text version (minus pix) of the above highlight version with pix on Twitter.

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My Brand of Poison #SARSCoV2 – Eight #LessonsLearned from 22 #Covid19 Rapid Tests

I recently tested Covid19 positive. Two weeks later, I live to share my stories.

When my friend/mentor share his insights, he loves to add that is only his “Brand of Poison”. So I’m going to steal from him. And these stories and lessons learned are my “Brand of Poison”, nothing more. I think there are still lots of #ScienceInProgress with Covid19 (have you listened to the podcast #TWiV This Week in Virology?), so when in doubt of what I say, do NOT blindly trust me (I’m an expert in nothing), fact check me with your own doctor, expert doctors, Covid19 researchers, and especially peer-reviewed published research papers with solid data from reputable scientific journals.

Lesson 1 Backstory: I’m four doses vaccinated with Dose 4 in September 2022 (Pfizer-BioNTech original and Omicron BA.1 bivalent Covid19 vaccine). I fully understand vaccines protect us (greatly reduce risks) from seriously illness and deaths but the vaccines are NOT designed to give sterilizing immunity (100% protection) so there are always some risks.

So after 3 years of not hanging out with my MBA classmates, I was seriously missing them and looking forward to our Potluck Party. I try to be responsible and without any symptoms, I RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) test myself the night before the party while I prepared my dish (pork ribs with pineapple). I just didn’t want risk my classmates getting Covid from me or not having enough food. So I RAT tested myself once and I got a positive reading. Beeping beep! Just to confirm the first test wasn’t faulty, I RAT tested myself a second time. Sure enough, the 2nd test still had a faint line on T, so I had no choice but concluded myself Covid positive and called my MBA classmate/host to cancel and apologize. I originally thought I could deliver the food to the party but I’m glad my friend said they have enough food. I was also worried about contaminating the food with my beeping Covid. It turned out I was pretty tired the following morning plus it was rather cold outside so I was glad I didn’t have to go out and have a long drive.

Lesson 1: Covid #RAT test before attending events with friends & loved ones (or even strangers). You don’t want to spread Covid to people and get them seriously sick or even dead. The guilt I would have felt if I got any one of them seriously sick. I don’t want to risk that.

Lesson 2 Backstory: In the recent months, I’ve elderly friends & relatives testing Covid19 positive. Sadly, their friends, loved ones, family members, and even their medical doctors had NOT heard of the potentially lifesaving (+ major risks reducing) Covid therapeutics Paxlovid. Some medicinal doctor and even infectious disease specialist (in US) claim to have heard of “Paxlovid rebound” and baselessly recommended against taking it.

I’m NOT a medical doctor nor expert of anything but in the last ~3 years, I’ve listened to Dr. Daniel Griffin’s weekly clinical updates on the great #TWiV “This Week in Virology” podcast. Should you blindly trust me? Absolutely NOT. Because blind trust is NOT scientific & dangerous. Covid19 is a disease that is still #ScienceInProgress in the recent months and years as we keep on learning new things.

So back to Paxlovid. Remember I said do NOT blindly trust anyone, including me, a NO expert of many things? In this case, even some MDs & infectious disease doctors are misguided to think “Paxlovid rebound” is a thing to NOT recommend lifesaving #Paxlovid to very elderly (like 70+ 80+ or even 90+?). Well, take a quick look of the Key Points, Findings, and Meaning published as a peer-reviewed JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) – Original Investigation – Infectious Diseases research paper that is based on a CUHK cohort study of 12,629 adults in Hong Kong with Covid19: “Incidence of Viral Rebound After Treatment With Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir and Molnupiravir” (Note: Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir =  Paxlovid)

Lesson 2: If my elderly 65+ loved ones were to test Covid positive, I’ll make sure their medical doctors look at using #Paxlovid to reduce risk of serious cases/death. MDs’ ignorance or “never used it before” are bad reasons. Find trusted doctors that have prescribed Paxlovid & know how to use it properly & know its contraindications to use it safely.

Benoît Mandelbrot (1924 – 2010)

Benoît Mandelbrot (1924 – 2010)

I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Benoît Mandelbrot, in fact I didn’t want to believe the twitter “news” floating around last night until I see positive confirmation from a major news source (in this case, the NYT report talking to Dr. Mandelbrot’s wife Ailette).

Long time ago when I was taking an university Algebra class in the summer with an older and kind professor, I bought to the class a book with picture of a beautiful looking and mysterious object (I later learned, a Mandelbrot set) on the cover. The professor asked me why am I reading the book? I said the images were beautiful. He asked, “Why aren’t you reading the master himself directly?” As a result of this encounter, I have since tried to read original research papers or books when I can.

To me, Dr. Mandelbrot is the man that bought arts and beauty into mathematics for me. Before him, I didn’t quite appreciate the beauty in math. Beauty and the rigour of mathematics coexist beautifully in Mandelbrot set.

Thank you Dr. Mandelbrot, may you rest in peace. (I wished I had written you a fan letter before today. I hope you know you are well loved and respected.)

Fractal Zoom Mandelbrot Corner

Here is Dr. Mandelbrot in his own words in a TED2010 talk: Fractals and the art of roughness.

A fun animated video about Mandelbrot Set. [HT Wired]

For the record, the Oct 16th NYT article “Benoit Mandelbrot, Mathematician, Dies at 85” by Jascha Hoffman.

“Benoît B. Mandelbrot, a maverick mathematician who developed an innovative theory of roughness and applied it to physics, biology, finance and many other fields, died on Thursday in Cambridge, Mass. He was 85.

His death was caused by pancreatic cancer, his wife, Aliette, said. He had lived in Cambridge.

Dr. Mandelbrot coined the term “fractal” to refer to a new class of mathematical shapes whose uneven contours could mimic the irregularities found in nature.

“Applied mathematics had been concentrating for a century on phenomena which were smooth, but many things were not like that: the more you blew them up with a microscope the more complexity you found,” said David Mumford, a professor of mathematics at Brown University. “He was one of the primary people who realized these were legitimate objects of study.”

In a seminal book, “The Fractal Geometry of Nature,” published in 1982, Dr. Mandelbrot defended mathematical objects that he said others had dismissed as “monstrous” and “pathological.”

Dr. Cynthia Kenyon’s “extend lifespan” speech at U of Calgary Faculty of Medicine – From worms to mammals: pathways that can extend lifespan

At a University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine talk earlier this month, Dr. Cynthia Kenyon (UCSF bio) gave an interesting speech about some foundational research about the basis of extending lifespan. Here is a video clip of the talk “From worms to mammals: pathways that can extend lifespan“. [HT UofCMedicine Twitter]

The genes DAF-2 (1998) and DAF-16 (2004) were discussed in the talk, you can find Dr. Kenyon‘s list of downloadable publications.

Also check out Dr. Kenyon‘s Cambridge University talk about the evolutionary basis of ageing.

Orgasm Inc. – The Strange Science of Female Pleasure

If you haven’t seen the documentary “Orgasm Inc. – The Strange Science of Female Pleasure“, I highly recommend you go get a copy and watch it. I very much agree with the claim in the sysnopsis that Orgasm Inc. is “upbeat, engaging, enlightening, and provocative” and indeed it will “change the way you think about sex.”

If you live in Calgary or anywhere in Canada, you can actually watch the full Orgasm Inc. documentary online at CBC The Passionate Eye. (Other countries may have similar arrangement, check Orgasm Inc for more info.) See my previous entry about the film and director Liz Canner. [Oct 6th Update: I have just interviewed Liz to talk about her film and updates about issues discussed in the film. I will post my interview with Liz later. Stay tune.]

Here is a film trailer.

Here is the film synopsis. (emphasis added)

“Extraordinary behind-the-scenes access reveals a drug company’s fevered race to develop the first FDA-approved Viagra for women – and offers a humorous but sobering look inside the cash-fueled pharmaceutical industry.”– Hot Docs Film Festival

“In the shocking and hilarious documentary ORGASM INC., filmmaker Liz Canner takes a job editing erotic videos for a drug trial for a pharmaceutical company. Her employer is developing what they hope will be the first Viagra drug for women that wins FDA approval to treat a new disease: Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD). Liz gains permission to film the company for her own documentary. Initially, she plans to create a movie about science and pleasure but she soon begins to suspect that her employer, along with a cadre of other medical companies, might be trying to take advantage of women (and potentially endanger their health) in pursuit of billion dollar profits. ORGASM INC. is a powerful look inside the medical industry and the marketing campaigns that are literally and figuratively reshaping our everyday lives around health, illness, desire — and that ultimate moment: orgasm.

Upbeat, engaging, enlightening, and provocative,
ORGASM INC. will change the way you think about sex.”

Here are some screen captures form the film,

The first door on the left changed her life

“Words by Radiolab” is one of the best radio shows I’ve heard in a long time. Highly recommended.

“It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without words. But in this hour of Radiolab, we try to do just that. We speak to a woman who taught a 27-year-old man the first words of his life, and we hear a firsthand account of what it feels like to have the language center of your brain wiped out by a stroke. Plus: a group of children invent an entirely new language in Nicaragua in the 1970s.”

A bonus video. Beautifully done.

[HT BMD]

Richard Feynman: Take the world from another point of view

Richard Feynman is one of my “Great Minds of Our Time“. The following is Feynman: Take the world from another point of view.

Hans Christian Ørsted – Who is he?

Thanks to Google, hundreds of millions of people are today celebrating Hans Christian Ørsted’s birthday without having much of a clue who he is … so who exactly was he?

The power of Google gets us to know Hans a little.

P.S. See a discussion about this Google link within the Wikipedia discussion page.