Dr. Howard Smith Reports

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/NJaHrB92EJs   The CPSC and Specialized Bicycle Components now recall Sirrus, Sirrus X and Sirrus Sport Bicycles with alloy cranks.   The crank arm on these bikes may disengage causing the rider to lose control, fall, and sustain injuries.   About 19,000 of these bicycles were sold.   If you have one of them, stop riding it immediately and contact your nearest authoriz...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/cnN2nkBlDec Short Shorts are cutting edge medical and healthcare discoveries not quite ready for the clinic, but worth knowing about now. Spiders may help us cure cancer.   The intracellular protein p53 is one natural defense against cancer-triggering mutations.   Problem is that p53 is in short supply since cells naturally make very little of it and it tends to be un...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Q050l99K4QI   One in every four children under the age of 18 develops symptoms of long CoVid following a given CoVid infection.   An international collaborative group that includes Harvard, Emory, Cornell, Rutgers, Swedish and Mexican universities performed a meta-analysis of   21 published studies covering some 80,071 children and adolescents 0 to 18 years of age.  ...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/yCZwTRhm3i4   Creativity CAN be taught to children, and professors of English at the Ohio State University now report a better method.   The traditional approach called divergent thinking that focuses on problem-solving and working memory expansion hasn’t cut it.   Instead the OSU profs recommend the narrative method successfully used by novelists.   This narrative me...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/-jApZNB4yAw   Just how effective are the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for protection against the two Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2?   The answer comes from a collaborative study from the epidemiologists at Cornell Medicine-Qatar following their study of 1,308,926 individuals who received the Pfizer and 894,142 who received the Moderna.   Of these groups, only 27% r...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/N4qAzhE8v9s   The OmicronBA.2 subvariant is spreading rapidly, and it will trigger another wave, actually a tsunami, of CoVid cases.   I am here to warn you, not to scare you, but if a 4 alarm siren is what you need, so be it.   I’ve been talking about this OmicronBA.2 subvariant for several weeks now as it has been spreading around Europe and is wreaking havoc in Hon...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/YxmGtJw2rkY   Short Shorts are cutting edge medical and healthcare discoveries not quite ready for the clinic, but I want you to know about them now.     A New Zealand study shows that consistent reminiscing with your children about positive family activities helps them grow into adolescence with better overall mental health.   Kids whose positive childhood memories a...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/FtwtaTAF_N4   Nirsevimab is a long-acting anti-RSV monoclonal antibody that can prevent this often serious childhood respiratory illness in 75% of healthy infants.   Pediatric investigators at Northwestern and the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago now report the results of their phase 3 clinical trial in the New England Journal of Medicine.     A total of 1490 term...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/JEQqf1_XfYY   Mindfulness meditation can reduce your guilt, but doing so may have a negative impact on your social relationships.   Psychologists at the University of Washington conducted a series of 8 experiments on 1400 participants that included 3 groups: US adults recruited online, undergrads at UPenn’s Wharton business school, and Portuguese grad students.   The...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/xwRgQi2ZIjQ   Collecting either a nasal or a saliva sample for CoVid testing in the morning vs. the evening increases the chance of detecting virus by as much as 24%.   Public health officials in Pasadena working with the California Institute of Technology report this finding following their longitudinal study of 29 mildly symptomatic participants from 16 different ho...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/ILJxdVWBzTQ   A home rapid antigen CoVid test on day 6 of a quarantine overestimates the risk that you are still infectious by some 40%.   This from a Boston-based study run by researchers from Harvard, MIT, and Boston   University.   Forty young CoVid-vaccinated and 90% boosted young adults, mean age 32 years, were studied after testing PCR-positive for CoVid Omicron...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/E8apkDZdsmY   A 3 rd shot of CoVid vaccine following the 1 or 2 dose primary vaccination provides 50% more protection against an Omicron infection.   Cornell University investigators followed 15,102 vaccinated students from December 5 th to 31 st , 2021.   Of that number, 1,706 had also received a CoVid booster prior to the beginning of the study.   The vaccines used...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/yX495mNhYZA   You may get more than a case of the Mondays if you hit the ol’ office water fountain after a weekend or holiday closure.   Purdue University engineers issue this warning after their in-depth study of water in a 10 year old 3 story so-called green office building.     The building’s water quality was assessed for minerals and bacteria including legionella...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/JmgpYgCRlc4   Cases due to the Omicron Subvariant BA2 that I call Omicron BA2 are on the rise all over the world, and this subvariant is on the way to eclipsing cases due to the initial Omicron subvariant BA1.   It is already the dominant cause of cases in Denmark, Singapore, India, South Africa, and Austria.   Reports from England indicate that children are harder hi...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/D6Qh5wSgILQ   The FDA and Tennessee Technical Coatings Corp. are recalling Tennessee Technical Coatings Hand Sanitizer Isopropyl Alcohol Antiseptic 75%.   This product is contaminated with poisonous methyl alcohol or methanol for short.   Methanol can cause neurologic damage, blindness, and gastrointestinal distress.   This product was sold in Tennessee.   If you boug...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/xfgwa9VmZk4   The FDA and Damascus Bakery are recalling Bantam Classic Stuffed Bagels with Cream Cheese.   This product contains undeclared egg allergens.   Those allergic to eggs could develop life-threatening allergic reactions should they ingest these bagels.   If you bought these bagels and have an egg-allergic person in your household, you should dispose of them an...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/TDo2aE0zCXA   The FDA and Stutzman Farms have recalled all of the Stutzman Farms Einkorn Products including berries, flour, pretzels, grate nuts, and crackers.   What is einkorn you might ask.   It is the the oldest form of wheat known to man first grown 5,000 years ago.   Einkorn is German for “single grain,” is considered to be an extremely healthy form of wheat, an...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/IRMUdD7Z6XY   The CPSC and Danby Products are recalling all Danby Brand Freestanding and Slide-in Electric and Gas Ranges.   If these appliances aren’t secured to a back wall or to the floor with anti-tipover brackets, they may tip over when heavy materials are placed on an open oven door.   This creates entrapment, injury, and also burn hazards if hot foods and liqui...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/D5QtmXCfkL8   The CPSC and Olight Ecommerce Technology Ltd. have recalled Olight M2R Pro and Warrior Mini LED pocket flashlights in a variety of colors including lack, camouflage, desert tan, OD green, Patriotic Edition, gunmetal gray, orange, blue, ocean camouflage, purple, white, seasonal titanium, copper, and antique bronze colors.   These flashlights may accidenta...

Crate and Barrel Be the Band Music Sets May Fragment Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/86IL9EXry5s   The CPSC and Crate and Barrel have recalled Crate and Barrel Be the Band Music Sets.   The maracas in these sets may break or detach from their handles, release the metal beads within, and create a choking, aspiration, and suffocation hazard for young children.   About 620 of these music sets were sold o...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/mWh2GGnbD6Y   The CPSC and American Honda are recalling 2019 through 2021 Honda Talon 1000 S2 and S4 Off-Highway vehicles.   These vehicle’s air filter intake funnel band screw could loosen and be sucked into the engine proper leading to a catastrophic engine failure, loss of vehicle control, and a possible crash and injuries to the driver and bystanders.   About 32,0...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hLIHxAYMVK8   The FDA and Golden Medal Mushroom Inc. are again recalling its Golden Medal Mushroom Enoki Mushrooms.   These mushroom are contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that may cause severe or fatal infections in the very young, elders, and those with weakened immune systems.   These mushrooms were sold in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas.   Ret...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/QnAjZyUHtCc   The FDA and Torn & Glasser announce the recall of Sprouts Farmers Market Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries.   These candies contain the undeclared allergen almond.   Those who are allergic to almonds and tree nuts could develop a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction after ingesting these chocolate covered cherries.   This product was sold at t Spr...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/b9HfeIvhA1Q   The FDA and the Chicago Sweet Connection Bakery have recalled   Chicago Sweet Connection Bakery Coffee Cakes and Paczkis Varieties.   By the way, paczkis are Polish donuts and they look delicious.   These pastries have undeclared egg, milk, and wheat.   Anyone with egg, milk, or wheat allergies could develop a serious of life-threatening allergic reactio...

  Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/GkWRi67LDME   The CPSC and Fitbit are recalling the Fitbit Ionic smartwatches.   The lithium ion batteries in these watches may overheat leading to burn injuries.   About 1 million of these watches were sold in the US and about 693 thousand were sold worldwide at Best Buy, Kohl’s, Target and other stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com and Fitbit.com.   This model...