Me And My Intestines

Today, December 22, is Eduard Uspensky’s birthday (the author of Cheburashka and many other beautiful books and scripts). That calls for a Cheburashka watching party!

(All 4 cartoons with English subtitles ↓)

“Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose? That the luckiest man who walks on this earth is the one who finds... true love?” | “We’ve all become God’s madmen, all of us.” | “There, in the presence of God, I understood at last how love could release us all from the power of darkness. Our love is stronger than death.” | “Give me peace.”

The SARS-CoV-2 infection prompts an ongoing immune system attack on the nerve cells in the nose, the new study states, and there’s then a decline in the number of those nerve cells, leaving people unable to sniff and smell as they usually would.

As well as answering a question that baffled experts, the research could also help our understanding of long COVID and why some people cannot fully recover from COVID-19.

“Fortunately, many people who have an altered sense of smell during the acute phase of viral infection will recover smell within the next one to two weeks, but some do not,” says neurobiologist Bradley Goldstein from Duke University in North Carolina.

“We need to better understand why this subset of people will go on to have persistent smell loss for months to years after being infected with SARS-CoV-2.”

The team studied nose tissue samples – olfactory epithelium – taken from 24 people, including nine experiencing a long-term loss of smell after having COVID-19. This tissue holds the neurons responsible for detecting odors.

After a detailed analysis, the researchers observed the widespread presence of T-cells, a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight off infection. These T-cells were driving an inflammatory response within the nose.

Our system is broken.  It is cruel.  It is dehumanizing, degrading, and it’s vile nature is so, so unnecessary.

We need universal healthcare today in America.  We needed it 40 years ago.  It’s cheaper, it’s simpler, it’s more efficient, it’s more effective and it is so, so, so much less cruel than what we have.

Additional sources/references:

Universal Healthcare Cost in America would be cheaper by trillions of dollars

The US has worse life expectancies than socialized healthcare countries

We have worse generalized healthcare results

We have the most expensive care

Our system is so cruel and unique that doctors from other countries literally can’t believe what happens here

I can’t tell you where or how to activate to help solve this.  There are politicians, groups, and activists pushing for this in so many ways.  I can tell you when, though.

Naomi Tydeman RI