by Richard Hobday
During the 1918 influenza pandemic, some nurses fell ill, while others did not. Was it Vitamin D?
It is clear from recent reports that doctors and nurses in hospitals are at high risk of contracting Covid-19. A century ago, during the 1918 pandemic, medical staff were just as vulnerable to influenza. One of the biggest problems back then was a shortage of nurses. As they fell ill, patient care deteriorated, and hospitals began turning patients away. However, it was a different story at an emergency tented hospital set up in the United States to deal with the…
by Richard Hobday
In the 1960s, scientists at Porton Down proved outdoor air is germicidal. What does that tell us now about opening our windows?
During the great influenza pandemic, the order went out to open windows. A century on, and the same recommendation is being made again. But there is a difference. Back then, rather more importance was attached to the germicidal effects of fresh air than is the case today. That’s why old hospital wards and tuberculosis sanatoria often had big windows on both sides. They could be cross-ventilated. At the time, scientific evidence for the benefits of…
Fresh air, sunlight and improvised face masks seemed to work a century ago; and they might help us now.
by Richard Hobday
When new, virulent diseases emerge, such SARS and Covid-19, the race begins to find new vaccines and treatments for those affected. As the current crisis unfolds, governments are enforcing quarantine and isolation, and public gatherings are being discouraged. Health officials took the same approach 100 years ago, when influenza was spreading around the world. The results were mixed. But records from the 1918 pandemic suggest one technique for dealing with influenza — little-known today — was effective. …
If we’re going to spend ever more time indoors, we need to at least let the sun shine in
by Richard Hobday
Photo from Flickr, by Evans E.
We spend, on average, more than 90% of our time indoors. Most of this time is now spent in our homes. The impact of such behaviour on our health is largely unknown. But we do know that lighting levels inside houses are much lower than those outside — unless our homes let in the sun.
Without the time-cues given to us by the sun, the underlying rhythms of many biological processes in our bodies can become disturbed. Light levels indoors these days are not usually high enough to keep us fully…
Richard Hobday
Dr. Richard Hobday is an internationally recognised researcher and author.
