ShareSaveCommentInnovationHealthcare2 Papers Claim Face Masks May Cause Long Covid, Stillbirths, Here Are The Problems With ThemByBruce Y. Lee Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights 03:29pm EDTShareSaveCommentThis article is more than 2 years old.Throughout a fair amount of the Covid-19 pandemic But if you take a closer look and actually read this publication you’ll find that both are examples of what’s become a popular sport of late: jumping to conclusions both publications are deeply flawed and also as you’ll see linked together Neither actually demonstrates that face mask wearing can cause such problems in humans both publications employ more hand waving than someone doing jazz hands while trying to stand on a yoga ball Both publications have some very fruity concerns as well such as quite a lot of cherry-picking and comparing apples to oranges Let’s first look at the publication in Heliyon which is still a rather new journal that was established in 2015 and has not been focused on public health Just because Heliyon calls itself an all-science open access journal doesn’t mean that you should automatically say The lead author for this publication is someone named Kai Kisielinski It’s unlikely that anyone would call themselves a “Highly Dependent Researcher.” Remember the name Kisielinski as it will come up again soon It is a relatively new approach for which a universal study definition or definitive procedure has not been established.” This raises the risk that a scoping review can end up cherry-picking whatever studies may support a particular point-of-view The Heliyon scoping review listed some studies that showed that wearing a face mask for more than five minutes could potentially raise the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that you are breathing by a few percentage points The argument posed by the authors of this scoping review is that when wearing a face mask you are breathing back in more air that you’ve just breathed out rather than fresh air some people have also politicized the heck out of face mask use More (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images) You’ve got to be careful about extrapolating what’s been found in studies of other animals to what may happen in you That could be like comparing apples to oranges or Tim Apple to someone who uses orange spray tan And what happens in rodents may not happen in humans Your body and rodent bodies are not identical presumably rat testicles are not the same as your testicles try posting on your dating profile that you have rat testicles and see what reaction that gets you chronically exposing rodents to higher levels of CO2 is not necessarily the same as getting them to wear face masks getting a rodent to wear a surgical mask or an N95 respiratory could be challenging That rodent may not wear it properly and could yell things like They’ll never take our freedom!” Nevertheless it’s quite a jump to say that wearing face masks may increase the CO2 levels that humans are breathing in by a few percentage points say that chronic CO2 exposure under lab conditions has been associated with problems in rodents and then claim that face mask wearing may cause such problems in humans the authors did insist on making such a big jump Look at the conclusions that they wrote without really providing adequate supporting evidence: “There is a possible negative impact risk by imposing extended mask mandates especially for vulnerable subgroups Circumstantial evidence exists that extended mask use may be related to current observations of stillbirths and to reduced verbal motor and overall cognitive performance in children born during the pandemic A need exists to reconsider mask mandates.” the authors did not fully acknowledge the limitations of what they had put together And they did not present the abundance of scientific evidence that has supported the use of face masks to prevent Covid-19 transmission They also failed to mention the fact that again people like surgeons and others have been wearing face masks for years Are Kisielinski and his co-authors now trying to say that those professions should stop using face masks Wonder if he’s worn face masks in the operating room all these years Guess who was the first author for the Frontiers in Public Health publication and Andreas Prescherare) were on both publications With Kisielinski as the first author and Prescherare as the last author on both publications essentially the same group of folks produced both publications it’s not surprising that the Frontiers in Public Health publication had some of the same flaws that the Heliyon publication did The Frontiers in Public Health publication described what the authors called a systematic review of any study that may have shown “adverse effects of face masks on metabolic and individualized parameters.” This meant that they searched the literature for controlled intervention studies and observational studies that measured thing such as “peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and symptoms during the use of face masks.” Of course one immediate issue is that such an approach throws apples and oranges together Different studies looked at different things and circumstances these measurements were taken while people were exercising strenuously which is not the same as wearing a face mask in the grocery store assuming that you don’t regularly do burpees in the produce section or pant heavily when you’re in front of the melons the collected studies did show some differences in certain measurements when taken with and without face masks things aren’t completely the same between wearing a face mask versus not wearing one just like things aren’t completely the same between wearing underwear and not wearing underwear If you are not wearing underwear or anything else or down depending on what you are talking about that—how shall we say it—tore this paper and Jeffrey A the founder of the Brownstone Institute who has been pushing this paper “If statistically significant differences = clinically significant differences,” after summarizing what the Frontiers in Public Health publication did: Burnett then pointed out the relatively small differences in blood oxygen and CO2 levels found between those wearing masks and those not: Burnett also emphasized that the authors of the Frontiers in Public Health publication heavily weighted a study that had focused on 97 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is known to already cause severe breathing problems: Isn’t studying face mask use among those with COPD sort of like studying the use of peanut brittle among those with peanut allergies Burnett went on to highlight how the authors also included a very flawed study in their analysis: the authors said that the value for blood C02 was 27.1 in the no mask group and 32 for those wearing masks — actually The authors accidentally took the pre-exercise number from the surgical mask group rather than the number from the control group who weren’t wearing masks.” and leaps to conclusions meant that the Frontiers in Public Health publication just did not provide enough evidence to support the claims that it made The authors claimed that face mask wearing can lead to something that they are calling MIES and asserted in an unfounded manner that MIRES may resemble long Covid Just because a publication somehow made it through the editorial process at some journal doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s completely legit and mistake and B.S You can’t mask the fact that many other studies have shown the benefits of face masks in preventing the transmission of airborne viruses like the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) You also can’t mask the fact that many people in different professions have been regularly wearing face masks for many many years long before the Covid-19 pandemic Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times By 2020-09-04T14:23:04+01:00 German deep-freeze logistics company Nordfrost is set to almost double the size of its site to nine hectares at the Rhine-Lippe Port in Wesel,North Rhine-Westphalia The company from Schortens near Wilhelmshaven is becoming an important partner of the “Cool Corridor” for the climate-friendly transport of temperature-controlled goods between Rotterdam and Wesel on the Rhine Nordfrost is investing a total of €46 million in the expansion with work already underway to upgrade the quay A new crane runway is being laid to operate a container bridge for ship handling loading halls and new warehouses are being built for goods in the plus-grade temperature range and general cargo there is the option to expand the Nordfrost site at Wesel to a total of around 16 hectares The logistics specialist will start handling container ships and operating a full-service container depot from spring 2021 The logistics centre is scheduled to begin operations at the beginning of 2023 'We are delighted that Nordfrost has taken the next step with us towards a modern intercontinental import and export hub,' said Andreas Stolte managing director of DeltaPort Niederrheinhäfen Nordfrost chief executives Dr Falk Bartels and Britta Bartels added: 'Our goal in Wesel is to offer logistics for all goods – including project loading – and at the same time to build this port location as a further food hub comparable to our development in the Wilhelmshaven container port.” The investment is aimed at offering the German food industry solutions for handling the growing trade volume with third countries the handling of frozen and fresh products in Rotterdam – which is connected to the Rhine-Lippe Port in Wesel – has increased by around 18 percent in the past three years temperature-controlled containers that land in Rotterdam by seagoing ship are usually unloaded in Dutch refrigeration centres The goods are then brought to their inland destinations by road in refrigerated lorries which is being established between DeltaPort Niederrheinhäfen – which comprises the ports of Rheinberg-Orsoy Wesel and Emmerich – and the Port of Rotterdam 'Our goal is to optimise this usual supply chain from an environmental point of view and to redesign the flow of goods from a sustainability perspective,' said Stolte refrigerated containers will be transported inland via waterways or rail in order to relieve congestion on the motorways Site powered by Webvision Cloud Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism Philippines (UPDATED) – The first petition against the Oplan TokHang campaign of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was filed before the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday The Center for International Law (CenterLaw) filed the petition on behalf of the families of 4 drug suspects killed in Payatas CenterLaw asked the SC to issue a writ of amparo and suspend TokHang operations in areas covered by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 6 wala pa po tayong direct access sa ibang mga kaso Marahil may ibang mga abogado na maaaring makatulong dun po sa ibang lugar We hope that the other victims will be emboldened to seek the help of the courts,” lawyer Rommel Bagares told reporters (The plea is localized only since we have no direct access to other cases Maybe there are other lawyers who can handle cases in other areas We hope that the other victims will be emboldened to seek the help of the courts.) The writ of amparo is a remedy availed of in cases of illegal detention or arrest petitioners include one of the drug suspects who survived the operation by playing dead Their lawyers claim the survivor as well as the rest of the families are being harassed up to this day “The (police officers) are sill active they can roam freely and that’s why we’re here because they keep on visiting the houses and making threatening remarks and gestures towards the victims,” Bagares said Bagares added that they are planning to file a petition for certiorari that will challenge the legalities of Oplan TokHang implemented as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs “The case [of the victims in Quezon City] is an example of how abuse creeps in to the whole thing We understand the need to fight the drug menace in society but we are a civilized nation and we want that law to be followed,” Bagares said The petition for the issuance of a writ of amparo stems from an incident on August 21 where cops from QCPD Station 6 gunned down 4 men while conducting Oplan TokHang in Group 9 The cops said the suspects were caught holding a drug session and fled the scene as authorities approached Petitioner Efren Morillo survived the gunshots Morillo played dead after getting shot in the chest Antonio said Morillo was able to jump into a ravine “The 5 young men were scavengers and garbage collectors in Payatas They were playing pool when men in civilian clothes descended upon them Pero may isang nakatakas,” Antonio said (The 5 young men were scavengers and garbage collectors in Payatas They were brought to the back of the house where they were ordered to kneel and then killed The cops were identified as Senior Inspector Emil Garcia and PO1 Melchor Navisaga of QCPD Station 6 the cops had no jurisdiction over the area they allegedly faked police reports and death certificates to make it appear that the incident occurred in another barangay covered by their police station PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa was also named as a respondent in the petition “It is important that the PNP is part of the respondents dahil sila ang mayroong (because they are the ones who have) command of the assailants,” Antonio said Dela Rosa could not be reached for comment as of posting time as he was at the Senate for an investigation into the death of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo tagged as a victim of a “TokHang for ransom” case “The incredible pressure on police officials to perform above par in the implementation of Project TokHang on pain of being relieved drives them to ignore protocol and breeds in them contempt of the law,” stated the petition More than 7,000 deaths have been linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs since July 1 around 2,500 were killed in police operations The PNP has repeatedly denied involvement in extrajudicial killings, saying that drug suspects who died in police operations fought back or resisted arrest