Tag Archives: Covid

They’re young and athletic. They’re also ill with a condition called POTS.

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Kaleigh Levine was running drills in the gym with her lacrosse team at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, when everything turned black.

“The coach wanted me to get back in the line, but I couldn’t see,” she remembered.

Her vision returned after a few minutes, but several months and a half-dozen medical specialists later, the 20-year-old goalie was diagnosed with a mysterious condition known as POTS.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/04/10/pots-medical-condition-athletes-covid-pandemic/

COVID is not something to blow off as benign, can age your brain 20 years!

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Post-COVID cognitive deficits

“Persistent cognitive deficits even in those without clinical neurological complications. When compared to normative age-matched data, these deficits were equivalent in magnitude to ageing from 50 to 70 years of age (1). This study indicated cognitive deficits were associated with the severity of the initial infective insult, post-acute mental health status, and a history of -19 associated , with strong concordance between subjective and objective deficits.”

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-3818580/v1

From my favorite doctor on Covid

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Opinion: The U.S. is facing the biggest COVID wave since Omicron. Why are we still playing make-believe?

“The pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by the rapid rise to global dominance of the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2. This variant is a derivative of BA.2.86, the only other strain that has carried more than 30 new mutations in the spike protein since Omicron first came on the scene more than two years ago. This should have warranted designation by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern with a Greek letter, such as Pi.”

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-01-04/covid-2024-flu-virus-vaccine

The Cough That Doesn’t End

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All of New York is hacking. We sent Rachel Sklar on a mission to find out what can help—if anything.

I was at a long-awaited panel discussion at my friends’ private home, listening to Senator Kristen Gillibrand speak about paid leave and reproductive rights with women’s health entrepreneurs Priyanka Jain and Alessandra Henderson, when I first heard it: The Cough.

Henderson, the founder of a women’s health company called Elektra Health, coughed discreetly from the makeshift stage. Then she coughed again. It was dry and quick and frequent. Every so often, she would turn her head, raise her hands, and behind the swishy curtain of her chic blonde bob, cough. A woman stole over and slipped her a cough drop. Gillibrand had warmed up and was on a tear about TikTok. (Not a fan, by the way.) And still, discreetly but certainly not imperceptibly, coughing. Henderson did not otherwise seem sick. She was a power woman on a panel with a Senator, in peak form, but what can I say: these days, you notice the cough.

https://www.thecut.com/2024/01/how-to-treat-a-cough-that-lingers.html

Vaccination Dramatically Lowers Long Covid Risk

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“A growing consensus is emerging that receiving multiple doses of the COVID vaccine before an initial infection can dramatically reduce the risk of long-term symptoms. Although the studies disagree on the exact amount of protection, they show a clear trend: the more shots in your arm before your first bout with COVID, the less likely you are to get long COVID.”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccination-dramatically-lowers-long-covid-risk/

The Cough That Doesn’t End

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“When I asked friends if they’re noticing coughs more or suffering themselves, they regaled and horrified me with their coughing fits. One had COVID-triggered asthma and an eight-month cough (under control now, thanks to two inhalers and a trip to the pulmonologist). Another was  a lifelong mucous-heavy cougher whose tips included “Chest Physical Therapy” which uses gravity and chest/back percussion to get phlegm to loosen and drain (she lies prone hanging over her bed while “banging her back”).”

https://www.thecut.com/2024/01/how-to-treat-a-cough-that-lingers.html

Covid Update

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While we’re all tired of all this Covid stuff and while you might not think so, it is still important to get vaccinated for Covid!

The booster is effective against the JN.1 which will likely become dominant by the holidays.Protect yourselves, and your family and friends.

PS: Probably best to wait a few months if you’ve recently been infected with Covid.

If you like to do your own research, start here:

“Administration of an updated monovalent mRNA vaccine (XBB.1.5 MV) to uninfected individuals boosted serum virus-neutralization antibodies significantly against not only XBB.1.5 (27.0-fold) and the currently dominant EG.5.1 (27.6-fold) but also key emergent viruses like HV.1, HK.3, JD.1.1, and JN.1 (13.3-to-27.4-fold)”

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.26.568730v1

MRI reveals brain changes in people with long COVID

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MRI scans have revealed long-lasting microstructural brain changes in patients after COVID-19 infections, according to a study to be presented at RSNA 2023 meeting in Chicago.”

https://www.auntminnie.com/resources/conference/rsna/2023/article/15658603/mri-reveals-brain-changes-in-people-with-long-covid

My Favorite Epidemiologist on navigating viruses during the holidays!

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We now have not only COVID but also Flu and RSV. Here are some steps which may help you avoid getting ill and spending more time with your family (that’s if you want to!)

Steps to consider:

  • Vaccination (consider all 3 – Flu, Covid & if over 65, RSV)
  • Immunity from prior infection (🙏)
  • Masks
  • Ventilation (open windows, meet outside)
  • Filtration

Contagious Period from Symptom Onset

  • Flu: 5 to 7 days after symptoms
  • -RSV: 3 to 8 days
  • -Covid: 6-10 days

Treatment

  • Paxlovid, especially if over 65

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/its-the-holiday-season-here-are-simple

Scientists Offer a New Explanation for Long Covid

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Serotonin reduction may be triggered by remnants of the virus lingering in the gut. Depleted serotonin could explain memory problems and some neurological and cognitive symptoms of long Covid.

“The research could point the way toward possible treatments, including medications that boost serotonin. And the authors said the biological pathway that their research outlines could unite many of the major theories of what causes long Covid: lingering remnants of the virus, inflammation, increased blood clotting and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.”

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)01034-6