News from Canada

Mij said:
Dr. Isaac Bogoch infectious disease doctor feeling uncomfortable being schooled by astute Kwame McKenzie about Long Covid and post-infectious illnesss.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1841895777779822941
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I laughed when I saw it and wondered if it was worth posting here :laugh:

Every time I saw this dude when he was doing interviews on TV, he only got softball questions and could basically say whatever he wanted. This was an educational program and he was just not prepared for an actual substantial discussion with people who don't just repeat what they're told to.

Most of the time I saw him was on CBC national programs. So it's not ideal that all he ever has is either total softball questions or time to spew whatever disinformation he wants. Rampant disinformation sourced from the government, experts and authoritative bodies are signs of a decaying society. And since it's happening everywhere, I guess we can talk about a decaying civilization.
 
The office of the Chief science officer of Canada has published a report on Long Covid: Dealing with the fallout: Post-COVID Condition and its continued impact on individuals and society.

Not much to work with here. This is super basic stuff but at least it's not completely wrong. Which is above average. But the odds of something useful out of it are really low. Zero mention of ME/CFS or similar conditions, this is all presented as a completely new and unheard of before problem. Aside from a single reference to a study, with no details, and a generic mention of associated conditions, which leaves a whole lot of interpretation that we know is heavily biased to keeping us out.

Health care is left entirely to provinces in Canada. The provinces can ignore the federal government in most cases. There doesn't seem to be much here. Everything and everyone is just in waiting loop mode for something to work with, for the first high-level clues, seemingly unaware that they could be influencing this process.

All of this is really making me think that the whole thing about us being a bunch of whiny low stamina people who can't cope with normal problems is also very much projection. Medicine seems completely inept at finding the first clue. They just wait until they have it, a process mostly down to chance. Which might explain why overall progress has pretty much stalled outside of some common conditions. The era of chance findings is mostly over, and they just don't have a plan B.
 
Applies to the Province of Ontario. Finally!

How new ferritin level flags in Ontario will change your practice. Ontario medical laboratories changing level for clinical decision around iron deficiency. Changing minimum to 30 up/I mean earlier detection, treatment, doctos say

"I don't think it's hyperbolic to say we're actually going to be changing the lives of Ontarians," Pai said. "It's going to alert more ordinary Ontarians who didn't even know they were iron deficient. It's going to tell them, 'Listen, this is why you don't feel good.'"
LINK
 
It's Canada's first film on Long COVID, created by people with lived experience of Long COVID, produced on a volunteer-basis, for the Canadian Covid Society

Justin's Long COVID Story

Long COVID is a new, stigmatized condition, still without a cure or much treatment. Justin Lemphers is one of 400 million people globally, who have experienced this often invisible and debilitating condition. This short film examines Long COVID through a personal lens, with a moving account of what this chronic illness means to one Canadian living in a small, northern town - and the painful recalibration of his expectations and limits, none of which has been helped by an unsupportive healthcare system, still struggling to accommodate this novel condition.
LINK
 
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Quebec mulls scrapping family doctors for healthy patients

Scenario would have only those deemed more vulnerable assigned a family doctor

Only patients deemed more vulnerable, such as those with complex or chronic conditions such as cancer, mental health issues, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, would be assigned a family doctor.
LINK
 
Mij said:
Quebec mulls scrapping family doctors for healthy patients

Scenario would have only those deemed more vulnerable assigned a family doctor

Only patients deemed more vulnerable, such as those with complex or chronic conditions such as cancer, mental health issues, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, would be assigned a family doctor.
LINK
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If only the ‘already diagnosed’ are allowed a GP, how does anyone with a new onset condition get diagnosed? Isn’t the role of a family doctor much wider than managing long term conditions?
 
An early season flu bug is giving the Maple Leafs as much grief as opposing penalty killers.

“It’s up in the air right now,” head coach Craig Berube said of Nylander’s availability. “Hopefully he’s fine, we’ll see.

“We’ve had more guys (sick) too, but they were able to keep going. We’ve got to watch for it. But it was great to see J.T. out there today and he got through practice. It looked like he was low-energy, but he’s a good pro, got out, had a sweat and I’m sure he’ll feel better later.”

Tavares, who rarely misses games, admitted he dropped a few pounds since before being taken out of Saturday’s lineup against Pittsburgh.

Keep washing your hands :emoji_ok_hand:
 
Definitely not why they suck, though. They suck because they're the Leafs. :laugh:

Ironically Tavares has been promoting some weird amulet that wards off illnesses and radiation, or whatever. I guess it doesn't work.
 
The ICanCME network has been funded for another 5 years, with $2M CAD from CIHR-IMHA. Unsure whether this matters much given that we have seen nothing from it, but given the people involved, it is better that this gets renewed than not. We haven't seen much from the NIH's funding either. The only benefit when everyone is stuck is that no one is behind anyone else.

https://www.icancme.ca/news/icancme-is-renewed/
 
Missed this from August, CIHR has funded a taurine trial at the University of Alberta. They will waste $3.3M on this useless dud. This is scandalous misuse of resources, but what else is new.
Lawrence Richer, a pediatric neurologist and director of the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre, received $3,266,550 to lead a trial testing the efficacy of taurine supplements to treat long COVID symptoms, based on recent promising research by Gavin Oudit, cardiologist and clinician-scientist at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, and others.
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https://www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/20...for-patients-with-hepatitis-c-long-covid.html
 
Ontario man granted euthanasia for controversial 'post Covid-19 vaccination syndrome'

The case is among several highlighted by an Ontario MAID death review committee involving people who weren't terminally ill
LINK
 
This has been posted before, but I thought can also be referenced here.

Canadian Government — COVID-19: Longer-term symptoms among Canadian adults
Fourth report: Summer 2024

Some of the more commonly reported symptoms include:
  • fatigue
  • coughing
  • shortness of breath
  • brain fog
  • general weakness
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Among adults reporting having had a confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, 16.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 15.5%, 18.0%) experienced PCC.

Over half of adults dealing with PCC reported noticeable limitations in daily activities:
  • 21.7% (95% CI: 18.4%, 25.2%) were often or always limited
  • 32.7% (95% CI: 28.9%, 36.6%) were limited sometimes
  • 45.7% (95% CI: 41.6%, 49.8%) were never or rarely limited
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University of Alberta: 'Research reveals new clues to the mysteries of long COVID'

'Three groundbreaking studies pinpoint immune cells and proteins linked with the lingering condition — and suggest a possible cause'

'We wanted to find out more about what is going on with long COVID to bring relief to sufferers — especially those patients with the most debilitating symptoms, a condition called chronic fatigue syndrome...” says immunologist Shokrollah Elahi..

"In the blood of the long COVID patients, the team also found higher levels of various proteins related to systemic inflammation — especially galectin-9 and artemin. These two proteins could help solve the mysteries of long COVID, Elahi says, because higher levels galectin-9 in patients are associated with increased inflammation and brain fog.'

“They discovered that the long COVID group had higher levels of immune cells called neutrophils and monocytes that cause inflammation, and fewer protective lymphocytes. They also had more worn-out or exhausted killer T cells, which are a key part of the immune system’s defence against infections.”

'The researchers observed that galectin-9 is shed by stressed neutrophils — the most abundant white blood cells — in long COVID patients. This released galectin-9 can promote chronic inflammation of by galectin-9 in patients are associated with increased inflammation and brain fog.' The researchers observed that galectin-9 is shed by stressed neutrophils — the most abundant white blood cells — in long COVID patients. This released galectin-9 can promote chronic inflammation by affecting various immune cells, as Elahi’s group reported in a previous study on HIV infection.' They also found that long COVID dysregulates the production of red blood cells, which results in an abundance of immature red blood cells in the blood of these patients.'
 
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Schulich School of Medicine: 'Western researchers closing in on treatment for long COVID'

'Both projects are supported by grants from the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID (SILC), a nonprofit organization founded in 2023..'

“Repurposing existing drugs would help rapidly address the urgent medical needs of long COVID patients and could reduce health-care costs associated with prolonged disability,” said Fraser.

'The international clinical trial will involve 1,200 patients who have been diagnosed with long COVID and participants will be assigned a repurposed drug or a placebo for the study. The researchers will then look at the symptoms, quality-of-life measures and biomarker analysis.'
 
For more on the Schmidt Initiative: https://silc.org/

SILC was recently created and funded by former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt.

Per their website: "The Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient and secure world for all.”

Their team includes John T. Redd (Chief Executive Officer), who most recently was a medical officer with HHS; Colin Shepard (Chief Medical Officer), who prior to joining SILC, was a medical officer with the US CDC’s and Prevention’s Office of Readiness and Response; and Adam Tewell (Chief Operating Officer) who joined SILC in October 2024 after a decade at HHS.

Just to share from Eric’s wikipedia page: “In October 2024, he was 52nd richest according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of US$33.8 billion”

https://twitter.com/user/status/1851004997812605307
 
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Some info on two funded projects at Western University, Ontario: Western researchers closing in on treatment for long COVID.

The first project aims to identify the patient subtypes – clusters of people with long COVID grouped by shared characteristics – and biological mechanisms of this chronic condition, to help understand why some people are more susceptible to developing the condition. Studying the long COVID in different countries helps to understand geographical variation.
...
A second project will look to find an existing drug that can be repurposed as an effective treatment. The drug targets will be uncovered by integrating the clinical and biological similarities common to all long COVID patients, no matter their geographical regions. A major goal of this work is to provide low-cost drug interventions globally.

Both projects are supported by grants from the Schmidt Initiative for Long COVID (SILC), a nonprofit organization founded in 2023 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to advance clinical care for long COVID patients globally. The organization works to raise the level of long COVID care and understanding around the world, connecting specialists and primary care providers to support patients and share knowledge virtually, in real time.
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Researchers will now begin a global interventional clinical trial with repurposed drugs that have already been approved by regulatory agencies and are available on the market to target the key signaling pathways related to long COVID – a series of chemical reactions that control the function of cells – identified in the previous project. This would mean a treatment option could be readily available to people worldwide living with this debilitating illness.

The international clinical trial will involve 1,200 patients who have been diagnosed with long COVID and participants will be assigned a repurposed drug or a placebo for the study. The researchers will then look at the symptoms, quality-of-life measures and biomarker analysis.​
 
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