agewell 2020 new 8.21_11-16_final
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Ask A Doctor<br />
Michael S. Tehrani, M.D.<br />
Internal Medicine & Geriatrics<br />
Q: What do you specialize in?<br />
A: I am a geriatrician, which<br />
means I work in the niche<br />
of mainly seeing older adult<br />
patients, and specifically<br />
understanding their wants<br />
and needs. Geriatricians<br />
are especially well-versed in<br />
knowing all the health and<br />
medical resources available to<br />
this age group.<br />
Q: Do you remember the<br />
moment you heard about<br />
COVID and what you thought?<br />
A: When we first heard about<br />
it… We didn’t know what to<br />
think. Is this another flu? It<br />
was tough because the media<br />
was sending conflicting<br />
messages. So just like everyone<br />
else we had a lot of confusion.<br />
But as a geriatrics office,<br />
knowing it could affect our<br />
vulnerable population, we took<br />
extreme measures until we<br />
could learn more about it.<br />
Q: What did those extreme<br />
measures look like?<br />
A: We started offering video<br />
visits instead of in-person<br />
visits. We educated our<br />
patients to avoid hospitals and<br />
the general public as much as<br />
possible. We even distributed<br />
masks to our patients. Our<br />
priority was educating our<br />
population about Covid-19<br />
and helping patients get masks<br />
and any required Personal<br />
Protective Equipment (PPE).<br />
Q: If you are a private doctor,<br />
where do you get your<br />
information? What is your<br />
trusted source of expertise?<br />
A: I have friends at the hospital<br />
who are doctors and nurses<br />
in the Emergency Room, ICU,<br />
and Medical Floors. I read<br />
the most up-to-date articles<br />
like anyone else and am<br />
communicating with physicians<br />
at our local hospitals who are<br />
seeing it front line.<br />
Q: How has your viewpoint<br />
changed since you first heard<br />
about the coronavirus?<br />
A: As of now, what I know<br />
about the virus is that it’s<br />
very contagious. About three<br />
times more contagious than a<br />
regular influenza virus. There<br />
is a higher death rate than<br />
the regular influenza virus.<br />
Covid-19 particularly affects<br />
people with weak immune<br />
systems and a lot of those<br />
are seniors. We see that it is<br />
highly transmissible. Where<br />
one person with the flu usually<br />
gives it to one other person,<br />
one person carrying this virus<br />
seems to transmit it to about<br />
three or four persons.<br />
One reason for its high<br />
transmission is that it spreads<br />
via much, much smaller<br />
particles than the flu. The<br />
particles are aerosolized and<br />
come out of people’s mouths<br />
and noses like a spray, not like<br />
droplets that just fall to the<br />
ground. Even while you’re just<br />
talking it can spread. We see<br />
that it lives in the community<br />
longer than the flu.<br />
Q: So are you a proponent of<br />
mask wearing?<br />
A: Yes, I highly recommend<br />
wearing one.<br />
8 | AgeWell Long Beach | Fall / Winter <strong>2020</strong>
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