Plus, a new pilgrimage in Sicily; are some people COVID-resistant?
|  | Friday, April 8, 2022 | | | | |
 | | R.H. GILES, WELLCOME CENTER | | By Victoria Jaggard
“Modern medicine is uncomfortable dealing with things where we don’t have
a quick fix,” notes pulmonologist Lancelot Pinto. But in the 19th century,
taking your time to get better was all the rage—and that practice could offer
important lessons for people today suffering from long COVID.
In the 1800s no one less than Florence Nightingale advocated for widespread adoption of convalescence, a period of slow recovery after an illness, Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar reports. If you were wealthy, that could mean a trip to a spa town where you could eat well, take naps, and gently return to physical exertion. There were also specialized convalescent homes for the working class, many of them funded by charities, and doctors would advise patients to rest and recuperate at home if they couldn’t afford a visit.
Convalescent culture tapered off around World War II with the rise in antibiotics and vaccines, as well as changes to the economics of healthcare. But clinics working with long COVID patients today are revisiting some of the tenets of convalescence, and they are seeing better outcomes for patients.
“It’s a cultural shift of going back to the basics,” says William Brode of UT Austin, “of dealing with rehabilitation that is slow.”
Read our full story here.
| | | |
 | | WELLCOME CENTER | | A long recovery: Pictured at top, a painting of a girl reading to a convalescent while a nurse brings in the patient's medicine. Above, wounded World War II soldiers convalescing in rural England.
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| EARTH MONTH: ARTICLE OF THE DAY | |
| PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUGLAS DAVID SEIFERT | | | |
| Perched: When the Mexican navy wanted to demolish an old lighthouse in Jalisco, this created an opportunity. An Italian businessman flew over the coastline and began to develop La Copa del Sol (Cup of the Sun) with villas and land art sculptures employing local artisans. His vision included this domed sculpture overlooking the Pacific, which represents female yin energy. The area is home to birds, whales, and dolphins.
| | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI | | Old path, new trails: Sandwiched between Europe and Africa, Sicily was long a strategic place. More recently, it’s been known for organized crime and abandoned homes that sell for a euro. Local authorities are banking on reviving a coastal route in Sutera and a dozen other villages to boost tourism. There’s a new walking path among old pilgrims’ trails, where walkers can have passports documented with their journey between Palermo and Agrigento. In Agrigento’s cathedral, a certificate of completion awaits triumphant trekkers. (Pictured above, the Temple of Concordia in Agrigento.)
| | | |
 | | When you know or find your passion, and you trust your instincts, do not let anyone else tell you otherwise. | | | | Aliyah Griffith | | Founder, MahoganyMermaids; Nat Geo Explorer | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY ACACIA JOHNSON
| | | Summer home: Every summer, thousands of male Pacific walruses gather on the shores of Round Island, a small, verdant place in Alaska’s Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary. The animals are there to recuperate after mating season, while their female counterparts head north to give birth. Round Island might be a resting place but it’s pretty noisy, full of walrus choruses of snorting and chiming. Read Acacia Johnson’s story and see her photographs. | | | |
| This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Monica Williams, and Jen Tse. Have feedback for us? We’d love to hear from you at david.beard@natgeo.com. | | | |
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