New Study Suggests Digestive Issues Can Be First Sign of COVID-19

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A new study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology reports that some people who get the coronavirus will experience digestive symptoms like diarrhea as a first sign of the virus.

COVID-19 is a new-to-humans coronavirus that primarily attacks the lungs and respiratory system. Its primary symptoms include fever, cough, shortness or breath and, if the infection worsens, chest pain, pneumonia and difficulty breathing. As medicals experts around the world race to learn new information, however, the list of the symptoms expands.

The new study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology looked at data from 204 patients with COVID-19 in China’s Hubei province. Researchers found that 48.5% of these patients arrived at the hospital with digestive symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain. The study suggested digestive symptoms may present before the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19. Those with digestive symptoms included in this study also had a more severe course of illness.

This study’s findings add additional evidence to mounting suspicion that COVID-19 causes gastrointestinal symptoms for some people. A case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on the first known COVID-19 patient in the United States, for example, noted the patient experienced loose stool and abdominal discomfort during their second day of hospitalization. Other research has found evidence the virus is shed in fecal matter, similar to other coronaviruses like SARS and MERS.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/study-suggests-digestive-issues-first-212548290.html

Maybe hoarding all that toilet paper isn't such a bad idea.

[NBachers]

1. I think my lower digestive tract issues are from consuming too much raw garlic. Time to back off

for a few days.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. I see what you did there...

[Igel]

3. New information in there.

But some is just published confirmation of previous reports and suspicions.

The coronavirus is most like bat viruses that live in their gut. Transmission route to humans is usually from some animal that ingested bat shit, and then passed it on to humans somehow.

The surprise is that it doesn't affect the gut more in humans but kills via the lungs.

Almost makes you wonder if means of transmission might not play a factor.

[TomSlick]

4. I'm reasonably convinced my current GI issues

come from fretting how I'm going to make a living as a self-employed lawyer if I am forbidden from going to the office and the courts are essentially closed.

[csziggy]

6. Do you have experience in estate planning?

Maybe it's time to offer your services for writing wills, health care directives, and other documents people may need if they do get ill?

That can mostly be done at a distance via email and telephone. You could hook up with a notary and witnesses for the signing, which should be the one face to face required.

If I had not re-done all my documents a year ago January, I'd be doing it now.

[TomSlick]

7. Sure.

I've always done estate planning, health care directives, etc. I've not seen any uptake in that business. Most folks around here are Faux News watchers and still think this is all a hoax.

I've always wanted a face-to-face interview at the front end. That may have to change.

[csziggy]

8. I know a lot of people who just will not write a will

They may not have much but they do have distinct desires of who they want to get what. Explaining to them that without a will, that will not happen makes no difference.

My sister is executor for a friend who did not leave a valid will - he wrote one out, never signed it, and left a mess of his finances. She's been dealing with this for nine months, now one of his sons claims to have found an earlier signed and witnessed will but he has not provided it to her or to the court. She is pulling her hair out. On top of all of that he did not leave enough assets to pay for anything so there really is nothing to distribute other than personal possessions which his kids do not want.

My parents went to all sorts of elaborate schemes with trusts, family corporations and stuff to get around estate taxes. All it did was make money for the lawyers - which they are still collecting - and make it more complicated to settle their estates. We're finally at the point where all we are waiting for is the IRS letter saying all the taxes have been paid, then we get to send that to the State of Florida (even though they no longer tax estates) and we're done. I don't know how much longer this will take between the cuts to the IRS personnel and the Covid-19 virus shutdowns. We've been waiting since last summer...

It does help to have that face to face. Maybe Skype or something similar would be possible?

[TomSlick]

9. I'm not a great fan of trusts, family corporations, etc.

I'm in small town Arkansas. There are not a lot of people who should worry about estate taxes. Probate in Arkansas is really simple so avoiding probate is a poor reason to do anything. Trusts rarely work to avoid probate because there is almost always some asset that was not transferred to the trust.

I get a lot of questions about using trusts as a means of defeating Medicaid claims for nursing home bills. I really try to avoid that because (1) I remain convinced that "paying patients" receive better care than Medicaid patients (I don't care what the nursing homes say) and (2) Arkansas Medicare has had some success in defeating the use of trusts for this purpose.

I agree that all these trusts, etc. are nothing more than a means for unscrupulous lawyers to sell people something they don't need. I can't bring myself to join in. There is nothing quite so inconvenient in life as an active conscience.

[Demonaut]

5. they better up the chlorine in water supplies