Dana M. Lewis

Air Quality, CO2 monitoring, and Situational Masking I do a lot of things most people don’t want to do themselves - and I get that. (For example, recording macronutrients while running? Running for up to 16 or 25 hours? Let alone other choices like buil...

‘Tis the season…don’t forget you can consider situational masking, even if you don’t choose to mask in everyday life / lower risk situations.

Planes, trains, shared automobiles, conferences and conference rooms… 👇🏼 here’s some data for informed choices:

diyps.org/2023/06/07/a...

Is a bad flu season on the way? Experts see reason to be anxious There are early indications that this flu season could be a bad one.

3. If you haven't got a #flu shot yet, now's the time. You may have heard that there's likely a mismatch this year — the #H3N2 virus mutated after the vaccine strains were picked. More on that in a bit. But that's not a reason to skip getting a shot this year. www.statnews.com/2025/11/20/f...

Sometimes when people ask me why I’m wearing a mask I say I’m traveling or have some important thing soon and can’t afford to get sick and miss it and that’s pretty much always true but I think it would be nice if it were more normalized to just say “I don’t want to get sick” and leave it at that

Scripps Research scientists launch new digital clinical trial to test repurposed drug for long COVID symptom relief

We've just launched the first large, site-less (home, direct to participant) randomized trial for treatment of #LongCovid, testing tirzepatide (a GLP-1 drug) vs placebo. Please help spread the word
www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...

Waiting for the day someone presents this type of stat juxtaposed against how often healthcare providers give misdirected or mistargeted information.

🤣

If we want preprints to really catalyze faster, more open science, then leading infrastructure needs to reduce this friction. Authors should know when feedback exists — otherwise we’re shouting into the void.

If the smoke in the air is bothering you:

Reminder that an n95 mask can help (and you can wear one outside to reduce exposure).

For inside, if you don’t have an air purifier, a furnace filter taped onto a box fan can help clean your indoor air.

Given the current wildfire growth across the PNW and the forecast winds over the next week, we could see a situation where smoke becomes persistent across much of the PNW by next week. Time to get those air filters / N95s / etc if you haven't already.

Person wearing a mask sitting by an airplane window, using a smartphone, under a notice from CDPH recommending masks to reduce respiratory virus risk.

Traveling soon? Stay protected during the COVID-19 surge by wearing a high-quality mask in crowded or indoor spaces like an N95, KN95 or KF94. Learn more: www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID...

If you are accommodating someone with dietary restrictions, please refrain from having feelings about whether/how much they eat. "I got them this special thing, why didn't they eat as much as I want them to?" Could be they're full, they don't like that food, they decided it's not actually safe.

As an interesting data point, 4 of 5 women I told about this on the same day also experience significant pain from IUD insertion / replacement procedures and have (also) never been offered pain management options. (The fifth didn’t comment.)

We need to change this. Pass it on 👆🏼 to your friends.

As an interesting data point, 4 of 5 women I told about this on the same day also experience significant pain from IUD insertion / replacement procedures and have (also) never been offered pain management options. (The fifth didn’t comment.)

We need to change this. Pass it on 👆🏼 to your friends.

IUD insertion or IUD replacement is more manageable with a paracervical block If you’re someone who is considering an IUD (intrauterine device) or has an IUD and is considering a replacement or the removal process, this post is for you. You should know about this! Feel free to ...

This is one of the things we have to talk about (real world clinical practice is translating very slowly on the basis of new evidence).

If you have an IUD or are considering getting one, read about paracervical blocks & ask your provider about it.

diyps.org/2025/05/29/i...

You can read the full research paper here:

doi.org/10.3390/epid...

Or, read my summary and highlights from the paper here: bit.ly/3J8yBLL

Let me know what questions you have!

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You can read the full research paper here:

doi.org/10.3390/epid...

Or, read my summary and highlights from the paper here: bit.ly/3J8yBLL

Let me know what questions you have!

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The EPI/PEI-SS is available for anyone to use in the real-world right now: danamlewis.github.io/EPI-PEI-SS/

(You can also find it in PERT Pilot, for people who already have EPI and want to monitor symptom changes over time: bit.ly/PERT-Pilot-iOS, bit.ly/PERT-Pilot-Android)

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Note: diverse online population. Follow-up studies (e.g., general pop, common co-diseases like diabetes, pancreatic cancer, etc.) are in the works, to pair with elastase testing.

This study was not powered, but the data is being used to power the subsequent studies.

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Figure 1 from the paper showing the sub-scores and total scores broken out by EPI and non-EPI groups, respectively.

EPI/PEI-SS higher in those with EPI (98.11, min 1, max 213) and lower in those without EPI (38.86, min 0, max 163).

Statistically significant difference (p<.001), remained even when those without EPI were split into two groups based on other GI-related conditions or not.

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The EPI/PEI-SS has 15 symptoms (abdominal, toilet-related, food-related symptoms) and rates by frequency (0-5) and severity (0-3).

The score is based on frequency x severity, for a max total score of 225.

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New open-access research on a new symptom score for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency - the EPI/PEI-SS.

An n=324 study analyzed this symptom score in people with EPI and in the general population (without EPI).

Read the open access paper here (doi.org/10.3390/epid...), or skim this summary below 👇🏼

Agree it was weird. I wonder if their push to get free users onto it is what the reason was. (As a plus user, I dislike the lack of choice and lack of communication about it.)

Lots of lingering surface smoke from the #BearGulchFire is moving through the Puget Sound area today, with air quality in the moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups categories. AQI is currently worst near the fire, and in Pierce & S. King Counties. Be cautious! #wawx

One way to stress test includes thinking about 1) newer folks w/less volume+experience & 2) citizen/community (or non-academic/industry) researchers

Either 1 or 2 have less volume and existing reputation/cred to spend in such a system, same for if publishing in a new/adjacent field of study.

I understand to a degree (as someone with celiac, at least, plus EPI - have also done low FODMAP in past). It’s hard when there are so many GI-related things going on!

Have you had any success identifying which symptoms seem to correlate with which condition?

Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) FAQ – Symptoms, Testing, Enzyme Dosing & More Here are the top questions I see about exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI / PEI), especially when someone is newly diagnosed. Section 1 of 7: Symptoms What are the symptoms of exocrine pancreatic ...

Every question (more than 25!) that I’ve ever answered about exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI/PEI):
bit.ly/EPI-FAQ

(But if you find a question I haven’t answered, please ask it! And I’ll answer it + update the post.)

A gif showing screenshots from PERT Pilot and a new feature that puts a new meal and your chosen dose in context of your previous meals, to help you predict what might happen. This is now live in the iOS App Store!

👀 a new feature in PERT Pilot is out today! 🎉

When you are choosing an enzyme dose for a new meal, you can see it in context of your past meals (and what you logged that work for you and didn’t work so well).

You can find PERT Pilot here, for free: bit.ly/PERT-Pilot-iOS

Some people do go as high as 200-250k. Some guidelines suggest trying a ppi somewhere around your amount, too, so that’s something else to ask your doc about, or trying a different brand.

Have you experimented with increasing doses (for same size/repeat meals)? That’s probably the quickest thing to test, and after that asking your doc to try a different brand to sub in and see if it makes a difference. feeling full/bloating can be a “not enough enzyme” symptom.

All the technical language around AI obscures the fact that there are two paths to being good with AI:
1) Deeply understanding LLMs
2) Deeply understanding how you give people instructions & information they can act on.

LLMs aren’t people but they operate enough like it so that the skills transfer.