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TRUTH… it is hard to come by

but it is time that someone starts speaking it. I can hardly believe all the people from all kinds of backgrounds from being fully involved…

by  redefineyourclosetwithdanielle

but it is time that someone starts speaking it.

I can hardly believe all the people from all kinds of backgrounds from being fully involved and highly respected member of the Medical Field to not having any knowledge of medicine and everyone in between. I know and realize everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion but when we continue to spread false information it can be detrimental to the health of the public.

I have said before and I will say again just in case this is the first article you have read from me. I am a certified Medical Coder, Auditor, and risk adjustment compliance specialist. I have a Masters degree in Public Health. I enjoy reading and studying medical topics and as a Public Health Professional this COVID virus pandemic has really sparked my interest and I have been and will continue to study this virus and everything that comes along with it.

I have said this before too, when looking at advice given by friends on social media don’t simply believe it because “everything posted on facebook is gospel!” because in reality everything posted on social media is not the truth. Please do you own research into articles, videos, advice that is posted on social media accounts. It is too easy to misquote articles that are shared, go read the article for yourself. Everyone has the right to their opinion and has the right to share their opinion but please do further research don’t take everything that is posted as gospel.

Here are some comments, some posts that I have encountered over the past couple of weeks and I want to show how so incredibly false each one is.

1. As long as my mouth is covered I am protecting you! I don’t have to cover my nose!

The problem with this statement is COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, what is the nose exactly? Think about that… you are exhaling and inhaling through your nose. This virus is not entirely spread through saliva and spit (this is what they claim when they say as long as their mouth is covered it is fine)

Let me share this with you. This virus is a respiratory virus that is spread through respiratory droplets. In order for a virus to survive though it must multiply/reproduce this happens mainly deep inside the nasal cavity in the nasal epithelium (tissue).

As infected individuals exhale through their nose viral particles will escape and enter the air hoping to land on an unsuspecting person or a surface where it can get picked up and transferred to another persons respiratory system.

Absolutely, the mouth also needs to be covered because the viral particles also leave the mouth in respiratory droplets…you know when you sneeze into your hands and your hands are wet? Those kind of respiratory droplets, the virus is small and inside of these respiratory droplets when the droplet evaporates or dries it leaves the viral particle behind(or stuck in a mask if you are wearing it properly)

2. Wearing masks are not healthy and can lower blood oxygen levels in healthy individuals!

Seriously, I had to really gather myself when I read this post from a medical professional, really… so if masks are so dangerous for healthy individuals why do dentists and dental hygienists wear them all day long, how can surgeons wear masks for hours while in surgery yet miraculously not have any issues with their blood oxygen levels???? Hmmmm this really made me scratch my head.

Now I understand you are a proof is in the pudding type of person just like me so I will link you to some very interesting articles published by the American Lung Association as well as doctors who are putting several layers of masks on and it never changes their blood oxygen level.

According to the American Lung Association there is no scientific or medical evidence that masks cause lower blood oxygen levels… not the masks that the general public wear anyway, the N95 masks if worn for extended periods of time by individuals who have pre-exisiting lung conditions can see elevated levels of CO2

Masks are made to breathe though, yes it may feel uncomfortable when you first begin to wear a mask, but honestly I am used to it and don’t really notice having a mask on anymore.

Go here to see a video of a doctor proving this is a lie

3. Wearing a mask will not protect you so why would I wear the mask, don’t wear a mask!

People are seriously telling other people to not wear a mask(shaking my head) What benefit is it to you personally to tell other people don’t wear that mask…Everyone has the right to wear a mask and to decide that wearing a mask is the best thing to do, you have the right to decide to not wear a mask(unless masks have been mandated) so what does that benefit you, to tell others to not wear a mask? It doesn’t… but what it could do is cause other people to not wear a mask and could potentially cause those individuals to contract this awful virus.

This virus is still so new but 7 months in we do have studies to prove that masking works to slow the spread. There was a study(referenced below if fyou want to check it out) about a man on an internataional flight there was a symptomatic person on a flight with 350 passengers, masks were used during this flight and when landing in Toronto the 25 passengers who were closest to this man were all tested for Coronavirus and monitored closely by public Health professionals for 14 days after flight arrival. None of the close seated passengers as well as none of the flight crew tested positive. This study is only one of many showing that masking works.

4. This virus is so small those homemade and regular surgical masks don’t do anything!

Actually they do… so the virus is small, and it is inside of liquid that when it hits the mask and evaporates the virus, yes some will get through while other viral particles get trapped inside the mask fibers (this is one of the main reasons you shouldn’t play with or touch your mask excessively through the day). It is important to note that the mask needs to be worn properly, fitted properly not loose fitting against the face above the nose and below the mouth, and the mask should be made out of tightly woven fabric, one way a scientist from the Today show said if you hold your mask up to the light and can see light through it, the mask is not adequate to protect, you can add a filter to help add protection.

There is a thing called viral load. This is the amount of viral particles that come in contact with a healthy individual, the higher the viral load that a person gets the sicker this person will be, masks lower the viral load someone could come in contact with.

There is a difference in respiratory droplets and aerosols that contain viral particles. Respiratory droplets that get trapped in cloth mask fibers before the respiratory droplets can evaporate turning into an aerosol which at this form can travel farther infecting more individuals, the mask slows and sometimes can stop this process therefore slowing the spread of this virus.

5. Masks are only for sick people, if you are healthy don’t wear a mask!!!

Okay, I completely understand where this statement is coming from… You know during flu season when you are going into a medical practice and you see a hand sanitizer holder with surgical type masks and a sign that says if you are exhibiting any of the following symptoms please wear a mask. Have you seen that?

Wearing a mask while sick is a way to keep germs from entering the public space and infecting the entire office. I can understand why someone would make this claim, however it is a dangerous claim to be making because if you have studied and researched this virus like I have you would know that the majority of infectious relations (the spread of the virus) happens before a person even knows they are infected themselves they are in what is called the pre-symptomatic stage of the infection.

During the pre-symptomatic phase is when the virus is in its highest numbers and is inside the nasal cavity, people walking around without a mask on because they are “healthy” are actually shedding(another word for spread) the virus infecting anyone and everyone they come in contact with. All because someone told them that masks are for the sick.

My opinion is that masks are actually for the healthy and the sick need to stay home isolated and quarantined from everyone and anyone including their own family.

In order for us to continue a somewhat normal life of going out to the grocery store, to work, to school, to the mall, to restaurants masks are for us to do that. Shutting the entire country down or even a state down is not the answer it is not healthy to do that but going out without a mask on is not healthy either.

So for those who say masks are for the sick, no the sick need to be quarantined and the healthy need to continue living on while protecting themselves and their family by wearing a facial covering and maintaining social distancing.

6. I have a pre-existing lung condition and I will not because I cannot wear a mask!

I do not disagree with you, if you have an obstructive lung disorder or even an anxiety you may not be able to safely wear a mask but they have come out with face shield and you should especially if you have a pre-exisiting lung condition, think about investing and wearing face shields when you cannot maintain social distancing. Due to your pre-existing lung condition you are at a greater risk of contracting the virus and suffering from serious negative effects.

7. Masks are uncomfortable and not attractive I wont wear a mask!

My first thought when I see this is this person is 100% selfish and self-centered. Wearing a face covering is not about you it is about others and there in lies the problem for the majority of people. We live in a Me Me Me society and who rarely if ever thinks of others before themselves. Wearing a mask protects other people from your respiratory droplets, from your germs that you may not even know that you have. Although there is some evidence today that masks do somewhat protect the wearer as well, but not as much as it protects others. Masks may be uncomfortable at first but think about the alternative of a ventilator how comfortable will that be?

8. Too much conflicting information, I would rather not wear a mask… I mean how serious is it when the CDC cant even make up their mind about guidance!

I agree totally with you when you say this, the problem is too many people are quick to share their information true or false and it can be very confusing. As far as the CDC goes COVID-19 is such a new virus we are still learning about the virus, how it is spread, how it effects different populations of people, how to slow the spread… we are still learning so yea when the CDC came out early on and said masks were useless and did nothing and now 7 months into this pandemic are coming back saying that masks are a good effective way at slowing the spread that is because we have learned more information, studied masks and the spreading of respiratory droplets, we have studied viral loads and pre-symptomatic people/ asymptomatic people. Yes even when you are not exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 you could be spreading it during the pre-symptomatic phase.

9. Viruses are all around us all the time and we need to build up an immunity to it, wearing a mask is hindering our immune system!

As I said earlier wearing a mask does not fully protect you from viral particles that are in the air but it will reduce the viral load that you are exposed to at one given time. You never want to overwhelm your immune system and body with exposure to a high viral load. The thing is we don’t know enough about this virus yet to say yea everyone should just go out and get this virus build up an immunity to it… There are some studies now that actually say that contracting the virus does not prevent subsequent infections so that myth about building up your immune system is not standing very tall now.

10. This is not actually a virus it is a made up thing to scare people and once the election is over we will discover that all of this was man-made.

This may be the most dangerous of all these myths… really man-made? Okay yes you can develop things in a lab and distribute them as a form of bioterrorism, this is not what COVID-19 is, COVID-19 is a mutation from the long existed coronavirus there are several versions of this and in order to survive and flourish for years and generations viruses have gotten very smart and very intuitive and are able to mutate to survive new environmental conditions. So you have different strains of the flu each year same concept, we develop vaccines and the flu says nope I am going to change a little so I can survive(it doesn’t really talk but that was fun to think it did for a minute). Same thing here so we have had coronavirus for years it is actually one of the culprits for the common cold. We have viruses all around us at all times this is a pandemic that should be taken seriously instead of making it political, it is not it is a public health crisis and if we don’t wake up and realize that it is real and it is dangerous we are all going to be in big trouble.

11. When you wear masks you are breathing in toxins! Breathing in CO2 is not healthy

No Carbon dioxide is what we exhale but wearing a mask is not increasing the CO2 levels in your body. When wearing a mask you are able to breathe in and breathe out, the carbon dioxide leaves just as the oxygen comes in.

12. Wearing masks cause nose bleeds

Ummmm really I am not thinking that is the truth either

13. Wearing masks cause heart palpitations

No way, not medically evident…now heart palpitations can be self induced anxiety could be the culprit when wearing a mask, and when a person places a mask on if they would begin to hyperventilate they could in fact have heart palpitations however it is not from the mask itself.

14. Wearing a mask causes cystic fibrosis

Are you serious right now???? Do you know what Cystic fibrosis is? Apparently not because Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder and has nothing to do with wearing a mask, I seriously cannot believe some lengths people are going to in order to not wear a mask personally or to get others to not wear a mask.

15. This Coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu, people just need to calm down the media is making it bigger than it truly is, trying to scare us!

Okay, first of all people saying this I have to wonder if they have any knowledge of virology/ epidemiology/ infectious diseases…. hmmm I wonder if they have read peer-reviewed medical journals, I wonder if they truly know what they are talking about? I don’t know all I can say is I would hope that anyone that does have any knowledge of Medicine and infectious disease would not be spreading this false information. I have an entire blog post comparing the Novel Coronavirus and the seasonal flu and in reality they are nothing alike other than both being a respiratory virus that is about it.

I know that the news media can exaggerate things, but if we believe that the Coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu it could be detrimental to public health. This is a true public health emergency, please do your own research from reputable medical resources.

This virus has nothing to do with the upcoming election, this virus is real, this virus needs to be taken seriously.

Just like the seasonal flu some cases are so mild the patients do not even receive medical treatment, other cases require visits to the doctor(typically this is a family or general internist) for some medical treatment, while unfortunately other cases require hospitalizations and some do in fact end up in the death of the patient. Coronavirus is showing to present similar with some cases being so mild the patient stays at home recovering at home, others require a trip to their doctors office while others require hospitalization and unfortunately some end up in the death of the patient.

It is important to know and understand that not everyone who contracts the Coronavirus will end up in the hospital not everyone will end up with life threatening side effects however this information does not allow us to believe the Coronavirus is no big deal and we should not be concerned.

Can you believe some of the things people are saying?

I get it… these people believe that what they are sharing is TRUTH and HELPFUL when in reality it is LIES and HARMFUL…

Everyone has the right to their opinion and has the right to share their opinion but telling people these myths are harmful, if the person sharing the opinion could put in their post that this is their opinion and why it is their opinion then let their friends and family decide if they agree or need to look elsewhere for advice.

Giving out these types of opinions are not the same as opinions on clothes/fashion/ food/restaurants/diets/ travel/ budgets/ investing/ life events…

Giving out opinions on pandemic topics could cause more harm than good and it needs to stop!

Understand, I am not a doctor(dont claim to be), but I am a Medical Professional and a researcher I study and read official medical articles not those published and put out there by non-reputable sources… I mean I am looking at Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, CDC, National Institutes of Health, public health websites, American Lung association and also peer reviewed journals from medical schools.

Go ahead and share your opinion just please when you do tell everyone it is your personal opinion and readers can agree or research on their own, it would also be helpful if you could put some reputable articles that back up your opinion as well (may be hard to find though if you are spreading false information.)

References:

This post has taken me hours/ days/ weeks actually to put together, I have saved as a draft several times but the truth is this information needs to shared people need to know that there are dangerous rumors out there.

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