What We’re Reading: 01/29/21

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A few highlights from around the web that made it into our feeds this week.

One of Us

An essay strikingly poignant. Anti-Black racism pervades all sides, all histories of medicine—both training and treatment. Here, Raymond Givens, MD, PhD, lays bare the cost and the toll.  “Black lives matter — our patients’ and our own. What if we demanded to know how much? What if every one of us demanded more?” A must-read. (From nejm.org) 

I'm a Black doctor who didn't trust the Covid vaccine. Here's what changed my mind.

As the essay above attests, the complex relationship between racism and mistrust cannot be ignored or swept under the rug. It must be addressed head-on. Hearing from an ER doctor, who is not a vaccine skeptic, about the reasons for her initial hesitancy in taking the Covid-19 vaccine is of grave importance to our national vaccination effort and the fight for equitable medicine. If we want to refute misinformation and dispel myths, we must normalize medical mistrust. (From nbcnews.com)

Why Vaccines Alone Will Not End the Pandemic

If you were looking for a clear, consistent presentation of data on what measures are needed to continue this global fight against Covid, this is the article for you. Getting vaccinated protects the recipient, but herd immunity is far from being achieved. Until we get there, we all (vaccinated or not) must continue to socially distance, mask up, wash our hands, and comply with protective measures. Through new models, scientists explain how another resurgence is possible if we don’t.

“There are people who are going to want to relax the controls we have in place,” Dr. Jeffery Shaman said. “If we start thinking, ‘We’ve got a vaccine, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, we can stop in a couple of months’ — that’s way too soon.” (From nytimes.com)

Foods that can reduce stress

We’ve dropped some heavy stuff this week, so here’s an article that falls under the soothing realm of things—Psychiatrist-recommended foods to reduce stress. Textures, vitamins, bivalves rich in B12 all make the list. Today’s the day to embrace the good kind of stress eating; there’s something for everybody on this list. (From cnn.com)

Last but not least, some poetry:

Horse in a Gas Mask

By: Linda Gregerson

Make your stress-reducing shopping list and listen to Linda Gregerson read her beautiful poem to you. Or give it a read yourself. Either way, take a few minutes to enjoy this work.

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