Extract from comments by Dr Binita Kane in this popular Guardian article today:
"‘I could bench-press 100kg. Now, I can’t walk’: Lucy’s life with #longCovid ."
"Before the pandemic, Lucy Keighley ran a gym, worked as a personal trainer and went on gruelling, exhilarating runs. But after three and a half years of illness, she isn’t sure she will ever recover"
"The results revealed significant differences in the neurophysiological parameters of P300 & beta band rhythms in subjects affected by cognitive fog, and these alterations persist even 8 months after recovery from #Covid19"
Review article. "The sustained activation of the KP [kynurenine pathway], associated with cognitive impairments & chronic fatigue, underscores the potential of KP as a therapeutic target & as a possible biomarker for #longCOVID in future studies”
"Tin Foil Hat Territory? The Gupta Program, the Lightning Process and the BPS [biopsychosocial] in #LongCovid and ME: How brain retraining therapies intersect with the biopsychosocial model"
"This excellent article highlights the similarities of these methods with the unevidenced 'biopsychosocial' approach to ME/CFS which has dominated research and treatments for years and is now infiltrating Long Covid, including in NHS clinics."
"We need to be vigilant and educated to spot this charlatanry. We need therapeutic treatments that actually work and stop gaslighting those with post-acute viral disease."
Responding to a BBC programme, Dr Edzard Ernst highlights data showing many are harmed by the Lighting Process and the lack of evidence for claims made.
He concludes: "Does anyone think that LP or its promoters are remotely serious?"
BBC: #LongCovid course is 'exploiting people', says ex-GB rower
Former Team GB rower Oonagh Cousins was offered a free course of the contested
alternative treatment "Lightning Process" (LP) for her long Covid. She says: "They were trying to suggest that I could think my way out of the symptoms, basically". The BBC has secret recordings from an LP-course confirming patients are told they can recover by changing thoughts, language and actions.
Professor and LC-researcher Danny Altmann says such behavioural approaches disregards the "mass" of measurable underlying damage in patients. Neuroscientist Dr Camilla Nord says the course is straying very far from neuroscience and calls it an abuse of scientific terms. The story is presented both as an article https://www.bbc.com/news/health-69040592 and a 38 min radio programme titled "Long Covid: Mind Over Matter?" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001zg5q
"According to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report from September of last year, around 18 million adults reported dealing with long COVID as of 2022."
"We are THRILLED to share the rolling successes of our 'Teach ME Treat ME' campaign with you, as we report back on the amazing medical education events that have taken place so far – with many more to come in the upcoming months!"
Article has lots more details along with reports of other Millions Missing events! 😁
(pay wall)
"Parents of children with #longCovid claim they have been accused of faking or exaggerating their child’s illness, leading to social services’ involvement and... court cases and the threat of the child’s removal from the home."
"For some people, disabling symptoms lead to complete inability to work. In less extreme cases, “work instability,” which is a mismatch between patients’ functional abilities and the demands of their work, can threaten employment if not addressed."
Not Quite a Ghost 📚 In this middle grade book, the main character simultaneously deals with a spooky presence in her new house, and a confusing new #chronicIllness. The author does a great job portraying some struggles common to #MECFS and #postCovid : the discombobulating nature of symptoms that fluctuate, shifts in friendships when pals don’t believe/judge you, not being believed by doctors, and some very accurate descriptions of #PEM. Plus, the suspense makes it a great audiobook.
"Children with #LC have a reduced VO2 peak […], abnormal cardiovascular efficiency (VO2/HR% pred), pathological VE/VCO slope […], and abnormally reduced slope of VO2 work" "48% of the LC patients had a suspicious phenotype for pulmonary hypertension."
New research from UK team:
Examining well-being and cognitive function in people with #longCovid and ME/CFS, and age-matched healthy controls: A Case-Case-Control Study
Had just enough energy to listen in on 3 of the 20minute webinars today. https://unitetofight2024.world/program/
Gives a bit of hope for all patients who are suffering from post acute infection diseases. Really love to see the science growing.🙏
It goes on for another 2hours and tomorrow. You can still join. I think presentations will be available later too
(See birdsite for loads of tweets. The LC/MEcfs community is big there)
Wenn ich jemandem erzähle, dass ich den Aufzug nehmen muss, auch wenn‘s nur eine Etage ist, bekomme ich sehr häufig die Antwort: „seit der letzten Corona-Infektion kann ich nach der Arbeit nur noch liegen“, oder „ich bin zwar gesund, aber war seitdem nicht mehr joggen“.
Nur mal so zur Info an die Ärzte, die „sowas ja noch nie gehört haben! Das sind doch nur Faulenzer, die in Frührente wollen.“