Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and, in 2024, falls on Thursday, November 28. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists from England and the Native American Wampanoag people shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. But the holiday is not without controversy.

Many Americans—including people of Native American ancestry—believe Thanksgiving celebrations mask the true history of oppression and bloodshed that underlies the relationship between European settlers and Native Americans.

Our office will be closed Thursday & Friday, November 28, 29, 2024,

for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

We are always available for your healthcare needs.

If you have an emergency, please call 911, go to the nearest emergency room, or contact our office through our answering service, 480.614.5800.

We wish you a very Safe & Healthy Thanksgiving Holiday 2024!

Telehealth Visits

Dr. Lakin is using ZOOM,

FACETIME and WHATSAPP to connect with you

for a 'Telehealth' visit if needed.

You can connect using your iPad, iPhone, Android phone, a laptop, or a PC with a camera.

November 24, 2024

FLU SEASON HAS BEGUN.  THIS IS THE TIME TO GET YOUR FLU SHOT IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO SO THIS SEASON.  THIS IS TYPICAL TIMING. THE CURRENT FLU SHOT IS IN THE PHARMACIES AND IN OUR OFFICE.

*NEW COVID VACCINE IS IN PHARMACIES. IT IS STILL A SOLID MATCH FOR THE CURRENT COVID VIRUS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FALL/WINTER 2024 IMMUNIZATIONS:

DATA CONTINUES TO SUPPORT BENEFIT FROM COVID VACCINATION. BENEFITS OF THE SHOT INCREASE WITH AGE AND WITH CONDITIONS THAT PREDISPOSE TO COMPLICATIONS (EMPHYSEMA/COPD, HEART FAILURE, DIABETES, IMMUNE SUPPRESSION)

IF YOU ARE GETTING COVID VACCINE, YOU SHOULD GET IT AS SOON AS FEASIBLE.  YOU CAN GET IT ALONE OR WITH YOUR FLU SHOT (IT IS SAFE AND PROVEN TO HAVE NO EXTRA SIDE EFFECTS WHEN TAKEN TOGETHER)

IF YOU ARE GETTING THE FLU VACCINE FOR THIS SEASON…GET THAT NOW, IN EARLY NOVEMBER IDEALLY.

CURRENT COVID STATUS:

THE CURRENT COVID STRAINS ARE VERY CONTAGIOUS AND PRESENT THROUGHOUT ARIZONA… WE ARE SEEING SEVERAL EACH WEEK, MOST DUE TO TRAVEL OR LARGE EVENT ATTENDANCE.

IF YOU GET SICK AFTER TRAVEL OR ATTENDING A BIG GATHERING… DO A COVID TEST. ALL STANDARD COVID TESTS WORK TO IDENTIFY THE CURRENT STRAINS.

ALL DOING WELL.  BE PROACTIVE TO PREVENT NEED FOR HOSPITALIZATION. PROTECTION IS UP TO YOU AND NOW IS A PERSONAL DECISION. DO WHAT MAKES YOU COMFORTABLE.

DATA 100% SHOWS THAT GOOD MASKS MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THEY ARE NOT PERFECT, BUT THEY DO REDUCE RISK OF EXPOSURE AND INFECTION.

• I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH… IF YOU DON’T WANT COVID FROM TRAVEL… WEAR A MASK IN THE AIRPORT CROWDS AND ON THE AIRPLANE (UNTIL 10,000 FEET) … THIS IS NOT AS ESSENTIAL AS IT WAS WHEN COVID WAS MORE SEVERE… BUT IF YOU WANT TO AVOID INFECTIONS IN GENERAL DURING TRAVEL... IT’S A RECOMMENDATION.

• EVEN SELECTIVE MASK USE WORKS WELL… SUCH AS ONLY IN CROWDED SPACES IN THE AIRPORT, AND DURING TRAVEL ‘TO’ YOUR DESTINATION, SO THAT YOU ARE NOT ILL DURING YOU VACATION/TRAVEL TIME.  LESS IMPORTANT WHEN YOU RETURN FROM VACATION.

• GET BOOSTED IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO…PARTICULARLY OVER AGE 65 WITH HEALTH ISSUES OR OVER 75 WITHOUT HEALTH ISSUES.  EVERY 6 MONTHS IS THE RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS GROUP. 

• IF YOU WERE BOOSTED IN MARCH/APRIL… MAXIMUM PROTECTION IS TO GET ANOTHER SHOT IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER WHEN THE NEWEST/UPDATED VERSION IS AVAILABLE.

• FLU SEASON IS BEGINNING… FLU SHOTS IN SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER FOR OUR NEXT, UPCOMING FLU SEASON

• VERY LITTLE RSV IN THE VALLEY. IF YOU HAVE HAD AN RSV VACCINE, CURRENT RECOMMENDATION IS THAT YOU DON’T NEED ANOTHER FOR TWO YEARS.

IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE A COLD OR RESPIRATORY INFECTION RIGHT NOW…. YOU MAY WELL HAVE COVID. PLEASE DO A COVID TEST TO CHECK AT HOME.  

ALMOST ALL DOING WELL, BUT WE ARE SEEING A FEW PEOPLE NEED THE HOSPITAL TO RECOVER. 

THE CURRENT COVID VACCINE IS AVAILABLE.

  IT IS KEEPING PEOPLE FROM HAVING A MORE DIFFICULT TIME WITH INFECTION AND KEEPING PEOPLE OUT OF THE HOSPITAL.

I RECOMMEND THE COVID BOOSTER GENERALLY FOR THOSE OVER 65. BUT……

• I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A BOOSTER FOR THOSE 80 & OLDER.

• I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE BOOSTER FOR THOSE OVER 65 WITH HEART FAILURE, SIGNIFICANT LUNG CONDITIONS, AND DIABETES.

CONSIDER BOOSTING WITH THE NEW COVID VACCINE TO REDUCE RISK OF COVID AND TO REDUCE COVID SYMPTOM SEVERITY. NEW COVID VACCINE AVAILABLE IN SEPTEMBER.

VACCINATIONS THIS FALL: 

• COVID SHOT…GET UPDATED VERSION
• FLU SHOT (SEPTEMBER THROUGH DECEMBER MOST IDEAL)
• RSV SHOT (..CAN CONSIDER TAKING IN THE FALL IF YOU HAVE NOT TAKEN YET)

DO NOT GET ALL SHOTS AT THE SAME TIME.  RSV SHOULD BE TAKEN ALONE.

TOP PODCAST DONE WEEKLY

BY DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

(UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA)  

He is a world-renowned epidemiologist who was credited with first elucidating TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME in the 1980’s.

He provides comprehensive and understandable/actionable ideas related to COVID.

Dr. Osterholm Update: COVID-19 Podcast

November 21, 2024

'Serious Challenges Ahead: RFK Jr and a New HHS'

In "Serious Challenges Ahead: RFK Jr and a New HHS," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the recent nomination of RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. They also discuss the latest COVID data, a global increase in measles cases, and a decline in STI incidence in the United States.

According to Dr. Osterholm……

•  GET YOUR LATEST AVAILABLE BOOSTER IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD COVID OR IT’S BEEN LONGER THAN 4 MONTHS SINCE YOU HAD COVID YOURSELF

•  A GOOD MASK, N95 OF KN95, DOES HELP REDUCE TRANSMISSION…. USE IT AT HIGH-RISK LOCATIONS

• GOOD VENTILATION IN ROOMS/HOME/BUSINESSES IS A GREAT WAY TO PREVENT TRANSMISSION

• VACCINE, VACCINE, VACCINE…THIS IS OUR PROTECTION. ALL VACCINES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WITH TIME WE ARE SEEING THAT

• BOOST, BOOST, BOOST…THIS WILL BE NECESSARY TO PREVENT RECURRING SURGE AND TO RAISE ANTIBODY LEVELS IN THOSE ALREADY SET WITH THE PRIMARY COVID VACCINE SERIES.

• ANTIGEN TESTING IS USEFUL, BUT OF LIMITED VALUE. DON’T DEPEND ON IT…BUT USE IT.

Know that unvaccinated remain a source of potential infection. Avoiding unvaccinated persons will reduce your risk of COVID.

Vaccination rates for the flu, Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are low for adults in the U.S. so far this season, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Nov. 9, an estimated 35% of U.S. adults had gotten the new flu vaccine, and nearly 18% had received the new Covid vaccines, CDC data shows. However, the agency noted that many unvaccinated adults reported that they intend to get their shots.

“There is still time to get vaccinated,” the report said.

The vaccination rate for the flu as of October was roughly equivalent to the same time last year, the CDC found. By the end of 2023, nearly 44% of Americans were estimated to have gotten a flu shot.

The rate of Covid vaccination is also similar to last November, around 15%.

The CDC has recommended flu and Covid shots for everyone 6 months and older.

 COVID-19 testing can help you know if you have COVID-19 so you can decide what to do next, like getting treatment to reduce your risk of severe illness and taking steps to lower your chances of spreading the virus to others.

Your order of COVID tests is completely free – you won’t even pay for shipping.



Want to know when your tests are coming? Sign up to receive email alerts when you order!

The tests available for order:

• Are rapid antigen at-home tests, not PCR
• Can be taken at home or other locations. Give results within 30 minutes (no lab drop-off required)
• Can be used for testing even if you do not have COVID-19 symptoms
• Can be used for testing whether you are up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines or not
• Are also referred to as self-tests or over the counter (OTC) tests

Some COVID tests arriving with past-due expiration date

A surge of stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has not tapered off the way Dr. Brian Lee, a transplant hepatologist at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, had hoped.

"I was hopeful that we would see declines in alcohol use, but I'm a practicing liver specialist, and the reality is, we had definitely seen a rise in patients with liver failure, which is really an extreme, I think, clinical condition from excessive alcohol use," Lee said. "So we had definitely seen a surge with the pandemic. And if you look at my clinic and in the hospital, at least from my experience, it hasn't gone down."

New research, led by Lee and published Nov. 12 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that a spike in alcohol consumption among people in the U.S. in 2020 continued to rise slightly in 2021 and 2022.

The study used data from the National Health Interview Survey, administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, and compared the data with 2018 as the baseline. The study included almost 25,000 respondents from 2018, about 31,000 from 2020 and almost 27,000 from 2022.

After you received your COVID or any other vaccination outside our office, please let us know!

We would like to document this information into your chart.



What we need:

1. Your name
2. Name & date of vaccination received
3. Brand name
4. Lot number if available
5. Which dose you have received

Since older adults have been more severely affected by acute COVID-19, researchers have hypothesized that older adults may have worse long COVID symptoms as well. But according to new research published in the Annals of Neurology, an official journal of the American Neurological Association, Northwestern Medicine researchers found on an average of 10 months after COVID-19 onset, younger (ages 18-44) and middle-aged (ages 45-64) adults had worse neurologic symptoms of long COVID than adults 65 and older. Symptoms included headache, numbness and tingling, problems with smell and taste, blurred vision, depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue and a decrease in cognitive function. These symptoms occurred regardless of if the patient had mild or severe COVID-19 infections.

“While deaths from COVID-19 continue to decrease, people still get repetitive infections with the virus and may develop long COVID along the way,” said Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine, who oversees the Neuro COVID-19 Clinic and is the co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive COVID-19 Center. “Long COVID is causing an alteration in patients’ quality of life. Despite vaccinations and boosters, about 30 percent of COVID patients develop some long COVID symptoms. These findings have an immense public health impact, given that long COVID significantly contributes to the leading global burden of disability and disease caused by the neurological disorders.”

We Are Here to Take Care of Your Healthcare Needs.

We Are Here to Serve!

Our office is using techniques to reduce exposure to a minimum during your visit. These include: 

• Multiple Super-HEPA filters to filter out potential virus and

particles in the office.

• High Level UV light air cleansing in the office to eliminate

bacteria and viruses in the air.

OUR OFFICE SCHEDULE  

DOORS OPEN     

7AM - 4PM Monday through Thursday

7AM - 11AM Friday

IN OFFICE

APPOINTMENTS: MONDAY – THURSDAY

7AM – 11:15AM & 1PM – 3:30PM

APPOINTMENTS: FRIDAY

7AM – 10:30 AM

DR. LAKIN WILL CONTINUE ‘TELEHEALTH’ VISITS WITH FaceTime, WhatsApp or ZOOM WHEN NEEDED.

Dr. Lakin's Info For COVID-19 Kit &

Recommended Treatments

SUMMARY OF A COVID KIT & CHECK LIST:

This is what you should have at home to prepare for possible COVID, to monitor yourself if you were to get infected:

DIGITAL ORAL THERMOMETER: MANY BRANDS ARE FINE…HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

PULSE OXIMETER:  TO CHECK OXYGEN LEVELS. MANY BRANDS ARE FINE...HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE:

OTHER ITEMS FROM THE HOME MEDICAL KIT:

• TYLENOL, ADVIL, OR ALEVE
• Sudafed 30mg tablets
• Chlorpheniramine 4mg tablets
• Robitussin DM syrup
• Imodium AD

'Free Birds'

Two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history - and get turkey off the holiday menu for good.

Stay Safe!