Fever

Does it feel like the polarization of any topic these days is the predominate way the world views things? 🙋‍♀️

We’re labeled either far left or far right, conservative or liberal, it seems that black or white in our ways of thinking is all that’s being aired……. The gray areas that require critical thinking skills…. gray matter – if you will…. are remarkably in short supply. 

*Viruses (plural) are pandemic… not just this particular one at hand. What in the world ?!?! 

Well….pandemic, by definition, means a prevalence over a whole country or the world…. ever-lovin-where.

*They (viruses) are part of the world that we live in, and “they” outnumber our cells by perhaps 20 to 1….. or more. (the jury’s still out on exactly how many “they” are!)

Don’t panic friends…… many (if not most) come in peace and are not detrimental to human health. In fact, some of them actually protect us from bigger dangers later down the road.

How many of you had chickenpox? 🙋‍♀️ #metoo

If you are my age (50’s -ish) you’ll likely remember the chickenpox parties that were popular back in the day. I dug around a little and found this little 5 minute gem from back in the early 80’s… regarding the perils of chickenpox. 

https://youtu.be/ZNEMPU4txc0 
(Full House Season 1 Episode 15).

Chickenpox ( aka varicella-zoster) was once part of nearly everyone’s childhood experience and almost a rite of passage. Nearly every child under the age of 15 contracted this virus and experienced a generally mild illness, with full recovery in 5-10 days, and gained natural immunity for life. I “might” have a scar or two where I scratched a little too hard,… but I’ve had so many boo boo’s since then they are not distinguishable from life’s everyday battles out here on the farm. #ascarisatattowithastory

Long term side effects? …… I cannot recall any of my childhood friends having any long term repercussions, and I grew up in a town where we pretty much knew everyone (or knew of them).

*Twenty years ago, the CDC estimated that chickenpox was responsible for an average of 90 deaths per year, with 28% of those deaths in persons with preexisting conditions.

That’s 90 deaths / 282.2 million (the population in the year 2000) = a chance of 0.00003% of dying from chickenpox.

For point of reference, the odds of:

⚡️Getting struck by lightning in a lifetime is 1 in 3000 (according to National Geographic )

 Being diagnosed with a brain tumor is 1 in 164. (with 14.9% of those being gliomas)

💔 Having coronary heart disease (the most common type of heart disease) is 1 in 18.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I would like to do all the responsible things that I can do to avoid and improve my chances of none of the above three happening to this girl.

Remember that convo we were having about chickenpox ( I hope you watched that absurdly eye rolling 5 minute sitcom clip I posted above). Yes, I know…. that’s 5 minutes of your life you’ll never get back…. but it did bring back personal memories for me of the mild illness I experienced accompanied by the intense need to scratch! 

Well….. chickenpox is one of those viruses whose bark is worse than its bite 99.99997% of the time. In fact, as it turns out…. the bite (or blister in this case) is actually beneficial! 🙌

*A study published back in 2007 (in a Journal excitingly called Atherosclerosis) concluded that the chickenpox virus (and interestingly, other common childhood contagious diseases too) not only have PROTECTIVE effects against acute coronary events later in life, but also that the risk of coronary heart disease “decreased significantly with each infection resulting from the common childhood diseases.” WOW.

Here’s a link to the quick abstract of that study 👇 :

* Another study in 2016 titled “The History of chickenpox in glioma risk” published in a journal called Cancer Medicine found that……… 

“ …. a positive history of chickenpox was associated with a 21% lower glioma risk, adjusting for age and sex. The protective effect of chickenpox was stronger for high‐grade glioma, particularly among those under age 40.”

Link to study 👇: 

I think I’ll wear my piddly pox scars with a badge of pride knowing that I’ve got a little extra protection under my skin.

We should always strive for a healthy, top notch immune system, but perhaps God and mama nature knew what they were doing when it came to equipping us in #alltheways.

But, but,but, …. Doesn’t the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine keep us from getting shingles later on in life? 

You’d think so. 

To be continued. Stay tuned for Part II! 

xoxo~ liz

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