The scientists have made a significant breakthrough in treating and preventing COVID. Let's bring in today medical expert Dr Nick Coatsworth now. Good morning, Doc. Good to see you.
Now, tablet could become a game changer for those suffering from long COVID. Tell us about this. Look, it potentially a really exciting discovery. It's at bench stage at the moment, so it's been
undergoing animal trials. There's a receptor for COVID called the ACE receptor, which is involved in severe disease. And scientists at UQ have found out how to block that receptor at a cellular level. So it's thought that that might stop progression to severe COVID.
And I'm not sure what it'd do to mild disease. I might have needed it myself last week when I actually had COVID for the third time. But recovering well today, you can hear I've got a bit
of a hoarse voice. You've had like COVID a hundred times. You've had a hundred injections. I don't get it. Do they not work? Yeah, you just got to stimulate your immunity, Carl. I mean, in all
seriousness, it is circulating with Spiritri virus. Now we are going to get it. And I'd remind all over 65 year old Australians to be up to date with their vaccine. All right, how long will
it take before we see the treatment in... Excuse you. You southerned that line. I don't know. Like a tiger. How long before we'll see this in pharmacies? Oh, look, it's going to be a fair while because the research has been done in Syrian
golden hamsters at the moment. So it's a little way away from human trials. And of course, it might not get there. But I think the exciting thing is that we've got Australian researchers
at the University of Queensland at the cutting edge of COVID therapy. COVID's not going away. And it needs... We need research into this. We need it because of long COVID's also an issue for
patients. So I think it's an exciting development. It's a target that we haven't seen before to prevent severe disease. And I hope it goes all the way, Carl. But I think it's still probably a
year or two away. All right, well, let's move on now, Doc. And there's a viral sleep trend promising a better night's sleep. How to use mouth tapes or mouth strips? Mouth tapes are
basically adhesive. You will literally just put it on your lips so it remains closed while you sweep. Okay. I remember... I won't go there. Look, what... Please do, Carl. Just one time.
What are the benefits of mouth taping? Look, the first thing to say, Carl, Sarah, don't take your health advice from TikTok. But this is a bit of a trend and it's worth exploring. The idea is that the resistance to air through your nose is a lot less than your mouth. So
you get a better night's sleep and a more relaxed sleep if you're actually breathing through your nose. But there's not a lot of scientific evidence to actually support it. Some people might want
to do it for snoring, Sarah, to stop their bed partner snoring. But again, there are better ideas than taping your mouth shut. How much tape do you actually need, Doc? Well, if you wind that round
Carl's head several times, that'll actually probably do the job. I think his head's a bit big, actually. I don't think we've got enough tape. I mean, the big question as we're doing that is
that, you know, if you do have snoring and sleep problems, please see your GP. Did you have garlic last night? There are physicians out there called sleep physicians. No, you do. That's why
this is necessary, Carl. All right, great stuff, Doc. So that's going to be great for the rest of the program, Sarah. You'll be all on your own. Yes. And, you know, I don't see how that goes.
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