Can you get too many COVID vaccinations?
The short answer is no. A 62-year-old German man claiming to have received 217 COVID vaccinations, allegedly to sell vaccination certificates to people who did not want to get vaccinated, was studied by scientists at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg who were concerned about a possible overwhelming of his immune system. They were able to confirm that he had received only 130 shots. They then collected the COVID antibody levels of 29 people who had received the usual 3 shots. His antibody levels were 6 times higher than theirs! His immune memory cells, the T cells, were at the same number and effectiveness as the others. “The immune system was neither positively nor negatively affected” . . . but he sure developed a helluva lot of antibodies. (THE WEEK March 22, 2024)
Trash Talk, the science of
Trash talking is the slinging of insults, especially in competitive sports, as a technique of gaining an advantage over your opponent. Trash talking can create bonds among team members and cause stress in opponents. Kobe Bryant was famous for trash talking his team mates in the locker room, and Larry Byrd was equally famous for trash talking the opponents on the floor. Causing stress in your opponents generates their flight or fight response, either one of which can diminish their performance. (SciAmer April 2024) A certain amount of anxiety actually helps you to perform at your best, the “individual zone of optimal functioning” (IZOF). Trash talking is designed to overwhelm that level of anxiety. Even positive, “polite trash talking” (eg. “congratulations, “nice shot”, etc.), can downgrade the performance of the opponent by causing them to down regulate or relax.
Reducing the anxiety of trash talking can be as easy as taking a deep breath (popular among basketball players before taking foul shots); a big inhale and a bigger exhale reduces physiological arousal. The other way to counter trash talking is much harder; acceptance. You hear something mean, and you decide whether it is useful to react or respond to it; you don’t ignore it, you accept it as maddening”, let the madness dissipate, and get on with your job. Trash talking has been happening for centuries in sports, but has recently become popular among politicians, comedians, and some business leaders. Whom do you think that applies to?
Hot Sauce, the science of
I have an older friend, age 97 actually, who always asks for the hot sauce for his eggs at our weekly breakfast meeting. The restaurant has various brand names, and the waitress always brings the one he insists on, the “hottest one” (“Ghost Pepper”, because Tom’s homemade sauce is no longer available). I have no idea how he stands it. But, he is 97 years old and has been using hot sauce on his food for years, and I’m only in my early 80’s. The tolerance of spiciness does increase with age. We are born with about 10,000 taste buds in our tongue, and they normally regenerate. We elders regenerate almost every thing more slowly as we age
I had no idea that there is a measure of hot spiciness. It is called Scoville Heat Units (SHU), and it is a measure of the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin reacts with the nerve endings that only mammals have. Jalapeños have from 2 thousand to 8 thousand SHUs. The Guiness 2023 record holder, Pepper X, weighs in at 2.7 MILLION SHUs. It is manufactured by a company called PuckerButt. Its CEO reports that it took him about half an hour to recover from eating the previous Guiness record winner “Reaper”, but that it took 5-6 hours for his cramps to recede after eating “Pepper X”.
The user of hot sauce can also develop “context” tolerance: The more hot sauce one uses, the more tolerance one develops for that level of spiciness, and more spiciness sauce is sought. Twin studies have also shown that genetics help explain different tolerance levels of spiciness. People comfortable with high levels of risk-taking seem to tolerate more spiciness. (My friend prints out stock-price reports every morning to guide his day.)
OTC BCP pills
The 1973 FDA-approved Opill contraceptive pill is now available over the counter (OTC) after years of being available by prescription only. It is a synthetic low-dose progesterone pill without any estrogen in it, and so it is free of estrogen’s side effects. The daily dose of one pill thickens cervical mucus which helps block sperm from reaching an egg, and it prevents the ovary from releasing eggs in “some cycles” (I’m not sure what that actually means; ask your OB doc). It is 98% effective when taken daily. The pill takes two days (48 hours) to become effective, so it is not like the Plan B pill that you just take the morning after. Opill can be stopped at any time without causing symptoms, and has no effect on successfully getting pregnant when desired (after at least 48 hours of stopping, of course.) The cost of a month’s supply at CVS is reported to be about $20. Some health insurance companies do pay for it.
Donuts make you uglier?
Scientists in France’s University of Montpellier fed half of 104 men and women between the ages of 20 and 30 a high sugar, high carb continental breakfast and fed the other half a low sugar, whole-meal bread one (both were of equal calories of 500). All participants were photographed two hours after the meal. When 250 other people viewed the photographs they judged the high sugar eaters “as having slightly lower facial attractiveness”. The speculated mechanism is that “the high sugar meal causes an insulin spike which causes a lower blood sugar which affects blood flow to the skin.” I’m not really worried about how significant this “perceived difference” is because I usually feel, and probably look, like I need a good nap 2 hours after a high sugar meal. Besides, I can always wait more than two hours before I allow any one to take a picture of me. (The Guardian March 2024)
HUB's LIST of medical fun facts 