“February is American Heart Month, a time when all people can focus on their cardiovascular health. The Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is shining a light on hypertension (high blood pressure), a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

“According to the latest data available from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, consider the following statistics:

• Unintentional injury is a leading cause of death among children under age 14.
• Leading causes of accidental injury at home are burns, drowning, suffocation, choking, poisonings, falls, and fire arms.
• Burns and fires are a common cause of accidental death in children and adults, and account for an estimated 3,500 adult and child deaths per year.
• Nearly 75 percent of all scalding burns in children are preventable.
• Toddlers and children are more often burned by a scalding or flames.”

Stanford Children’s Health (www.stanfordchildrens.org)

Cardiac rehabilitation, also called cardiac rehab, is a customized outpatient program of exercise and education. Cardiac rehabilitation is designed to help you improve your health and help you recover from a heart attack, other forms of heart disease or surgery to treat heart disease.

Cardiac rehabilitation week this year 2021 is February 14th through the 20th.

Cardiac rehabilitation often involves exercise training, emotional support and education about lifestyle changes to reduce your heart disease risk, such as eating a heart-healthy diet, keeping a healthy weight and quitting smoking.

The goals of cardiac rehabilitation include establishing an individualized plan to help you regain strength, preventing your condition from worsening, reducing your risk of future heart problems,C and improving your health and quality of life.

Research has found that cardiac rehabilitation programs can reduce your risk of death from heart disease and reduce your risk of future heart problems. The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology recommend cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Why is this rehab. done?

Cardiac rehabilitation is an option for people with many forms of heart disease. In particular, you may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation if your medical history includes:

Heart attack/Coronary artery disease/Heart failure/Peripheral artery disease/Chest pain (angina)/Cardiomyopathy/Certain congenital heart diseases/Coronary artery bypass surgery/Angioplasty and stents/Heart or lung transplant/Heart valve repair or replacement/Pulmonary hypertension.

Don’t let your age hold you back from joining a cardiac rehabilitation program. People of all ages can benefit from cardiac rehabilitation.

Cardiac rehabilitation isn’t appropriate for everyone who has had heart disease. Your health care team will evaluate your health, including reviewing your medical history, conducting a physical examination and performing tests, to make sure you’re ready to start a cardiac rehabilitation program.

Rarely, some people suffer injuries, such as strained muscles or sprains, while exercising as a part of cardiac rehabilitation. Your health care team will carefully monitor you while you exercise to lower this risk and will teach you how to avoid injuries when you exercise on your own. There is also a small risk of cardiovascular complications.

“Muscular dystrophy occurs in both sexes and in all ages and races. However, the most common variety, Duchenne, usually occurs in young boys. People with a family history of muscular dystrophy are at higher risk of developing the disease or passing it on to their children.”

MAYO CLINIC

Muscular dystrophy can run in families, or you can be the first one in your family to have it. The condition is caused by problems in your genes.

Genes contain the information your cells need to make proteins that control all of the different functions in the body. When a gene has a problem, your cells can make the wrong protein, the wrong amount of it, or a damaged protein.

You can get muscular dystrophy even if neither of your parents had the disease. This happens when one of your genes gets a defect on its own. But it’s rare for someone to get it this way.

In people with muscular dystrophy, the broken genes are the ones that make the proteins that keep muscles healthy and strong. For example, those with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophies make too little of a protein called dystrophin, which strengthens muscles and protects them from injury.

For most types of muscular dystrophy, symptoms start to show up in childhood or in the teen years. In general, children with the condition:

You can get muscular dystrophy even if neither of your parents had the disease. This happens when one of your genes gets a defect on its own. But it’s rare for someone to get it this way.

In people with muscular dystrophy, the broken genes are the ones that make the proteins that keep muscles healthy and strong. For example, those with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophies make too little of a protein called dystrophin, which strengthens muscles and protects them from injury.  Symptoms include:

• Falling down often
• Have weak muscles
• Have muscle cramps
• Have trouble getting up, climbing stairs, running, or jumping
• Walk on their toes or waddle

Some will also have symptoms like:

• A curved spine (called scoliosis)
• Droopy eyelids
• Heart problems
• Trouble breathing or swallowing
• Vision problems
• Weakness in the muscles of the face

How its diagnosed:

Physical Exam including checking your muscle strengths tested, blood tests, MRI, EMG-electromyography, and even a muscle biopsy.

Treatment:  Unfortunately there is no cure but was is used to help deal with the disease is:

• Physical therapy uses different exercises and stretches to keep muscles strong and flexible.
• Occupational therapy teaches your child how to make the most of what his muscles can do. Therapists can also show him how to use wheelchairs, braces, and other devices that can help him with daily life.
• Speech therapy will teach him easier ways to talk if his throat or face muscles are weak.
• Respiratory therapy can help if your child is having trouble breathing. He’ll learn ways to make it easier to breathe, or get machines to help.
• Medicines can help ease symptoms.
  • Eteplirsen (Exondys 51) has been approved to treat DMD. It is an injection medication that helps treat individuals with a specific mutation of the gene that leads to DMD. The most common side effects are balance problems and vomiting. Although the drug increases dystrophin production, which would predict improvement in muscle function, this has not yet been shown.
  • Anti-seizure drugs reduce muscle spasms.
  • Blood pressure medicines help with heart problems.
  • Drugs that turn down the body’s immune system, called immunosuppressants, may slow damage to muscle cells.
  • Steroids like prednisone slow down muscle damage and can help your child breathe better. They can cause serious side effects, such as weak bones and a higher risk of infections.
  • Creatine, a chemical normally found in the body, can help supply energy to muscles and improve strength for some people. Ask your child’s doctor if these supplements are a good idea for him.
• Surgery can help with different complications of muscular dystrophy, like heart problems or trouble swallowing.

Try to include with your Rx from your doctor:

“Muscular dystrophies are a group of muscle diseases caused by mutations in a person’s genes. Over time, muscle weakness decreases mobility, making everyday tasks difficult. There are many kinds of muscular dystrophy, each affecting specific muscle groups, with signs and symptoms appearing at different ages, and varying in severity. Muscular dystrophy can run in families, or a person can be the first in their family to have a muscular dystrophy.”

Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC

“Nearly 500,000 people are treated for burns each year. The primary causes of injury include fire/flame, scalds, electrical, and chemical burns. Children are more than twice as likely to experience burn injuries.”

American Burn Association

“Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women in the U.S. In 1987, it surpassed breast cancer to become the leading cause of cancer deaths in women.”.

American Lung Association

“Both confirmed that lockdowns do reduce transmission of the SARS-Cov-2 and highlighted that a more “targeted” or “proportional” approach of restrictions can mitigate the risk of infection, while balancing other concerns about the economy and mental health.”

Dr. Elizabeth Stuart, Associate Dean for Education at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health  and Dr. Stuart Ray, infectious disease expert with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine .

Workers inside a building at Tel HaShomer Hospital which was converted to receive the Israelis who were under quarantine on the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan due to the spread of the coronavirus, and arriving in Israel tonight, February 20, 2020. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90 *** Local Caption

Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Health Publishing is the media and publishing division of the Harvard Medical School of Harvard University, under the direction of Dr. David H. Roberts, Dean for External Education.

Through Harvard Health Publishing as of April 24 2020 they state, ” The rapid spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 has sparked alarm worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared this rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, and countries around the world are grappling with a surge in confirmed cases. In the US, social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus has created a new normal. Meanwhile, scientists are exploring potential treatments and are beginning clinical trials to test new therapies and vaccines. And hospitals are ramping up their capabilities to care for increasing numbers of infected patients.

By now, many of us are taking steps to protect ourselves from infection. This likely includes frequent handwashing, regularly cleaning frequently touched surfaces, and social distancing. How do each of these measures help slow the spread of this virus, and is there anything else you can do?

It helps prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as other coronaviruses and influenza.  Despite your best efforts, you may be exposed to coronavirus and become ill with COVID-19. Or you may be in a position where you are caring for a loved one with the disease. It’s important to know what to do if you find yourself in any of these situations. Stock up with medications and health supplies now, and learn the steps you can take to avoid infecting others in your household and to avoid getting sick yourself if you are caring for someone who is ill.  ”

Most importantly if you end up having symptoms like the flu get tested to see if you even have the virus and if you do.  Quarantine yourself at home 14 days or however long the doctor tells you.  Stay in a private room or area closed off to prevent the spread of Covid 19 virus to others.

How its spread?

Contact Spread

“The coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person to person. This can happen between people who are in close contact with one another. Droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes may land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby, or possibly be inhaled into their lungs.” by Harvard University Publishing.

Airborne Spread

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM).  They state:

“Airborne spread happens when a germ floats through the air after a person talks, coughs, or sneezes. Germs may land in the eyes, mouth, or nose of another person. If a germ is airborne, direct contact with the infected person is NOT needed for someone else to get sick. Airborne spread diseases include: chickenpox, tuberculosis, and COVID-19 or corona virus for examples.

NCBI states, “An airborne disorder is any disease that is caused by a microorganism that is transmitted through the air. There are many airborne diseases that are of clinical importance and include bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These organisms may be spread through sneezing, coughing spraying of liquids, the spread of dust or any activity that results in the generation of aerosolized particles.”

Droplet spread

NCBI states “, This happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose, or mouth of another person. Droplets travel short distances, less than 3 feet (1 meter) from one person to another. A person might also get infected by touching a surface or object that has germs on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Droplet spread diseases include: plague, EVD – ebola, tuberculosis and COVID 19 – Corona Virus #19, for examples.”.

That is why we are told to stay away 6 feet from each other outside of home; due to spread can occur within droplet spread and respiratory spread. including contact spread of the disease would be touching someone with the virus or objects with the virus on it.

Than there is simple contact to another person via touch or touching objects like a counter top, phone, etc… that spreads the disease.

Overall of all 3 ways to contact it this is why medical personal or those in close enough contact of CVD corona 19 positive people are to do airborne, droplet, and contact isolation measures.  This would be wearing the protective equipment supplied or not supplied from hospitals that is mask, gown or body suit, shoe covers, head covers and simply gloves.

This is understanding for the lockdown to control the this corona virus by limiting contact or respiratory or droplet contact from people except our people who live in our immediate home.