DR Yenting Chen is a board certified emergency medicine physician.he explains how medicine is clashing with politics over an ineffective drug.
For many professionals in the science and healthcare communities, the return of hydroxychloroquine to public discussion came as a shock.
Hydroxyc-hloroquine is an antimalarial drug that researchers initially hoped could be a potential treatment for Covid-19. Over the last few months, scientists have extensively studied hydroxychlo-roquine in multiple randomized controlled trials.
All of the randomized controlled trials came to the same conclusion: There was, unfortunately, no demonstrated benefit in the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19.
As a result, most healthcare providers have moved on from hydroxychloroquine. Instead, the medical community has looked at other therapies with proven benefits, such as remdesivir and steroids.
However, surprisingly, we now find ourselves discussing hydroxychloroquine again in the press and on social media.
One pivotal event appears to be an opinion piece promoting hydroxychloroquine based on early flawed observational studies written, inexplicably, by a professor of epidemiology at Yale.
Soon after, a YouTube video appeared, which promoted hydroxychloroquine as a “cure” for Covid-19 based on anecdotal experiences. A group of doctors claiming to be “America’s Frontline Doctors” made this video. However, people have questioned their “frontline” credentials.
DREAMS IN TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED, AND WHY?
Since the start of the pandemic, many people around the world have noticed uncanny changes in the nature of their nightly dreams. They report having stranger, more unsettling, and more vivid dreams. We have spoken to two dream experts to better understand this phenomenon.
“I was being held hostage by a nasty man with a gun, and the only thing my loved ones were worried about was the fact that I hadn’t been able to prepare their dinner.” “I had a dream where I was stranded at sea with thousands of planes exploding overhead in a red sky, with debris falling all around me.”
“I dream about adventure in distant lands, exploring [and] meeting new people whom I’ve never seen [before].
