News from the USA, United States of America

4/7/25, American Medical Association: 'Long COVID 2025: Symptoms, diagnosis, post-COVID treatments and the latest long COVID research'

'Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University, discusses new long COVID research...'

 

Nature: 'Long COVID activists fought Trump team’s research cuts and won ― for now'

'Success gives hope to scientists and advocates who managed to get millions of dollars in grants restored.'

“The long COVID patient community is reeling and flabbergasted by what they’re seeing,,” says Emily Taylor, president of the Solve ME/CFS Initiative and based in Glendale, California. “We’ve been telling congresspeople, ‘Stop cutting, first thing. Stop hurting us. Stop the pain.’”

Free archive link here: https://archive.ph/kdOc9

 

National Geographic: 'What exactly is brain fog? Here’s what scientists are finding out.'

'Scientists have long struggled to define brain fog—let alone pinpoint a cause for it. But research is starting to reveal multiple potential causes from inflammation to a leaky blood-brain barrier.

After a COVID-19 infection, many patients found themselves in a fog. Their attention wandered, their memory faltered. They felt sluggish, had trouble thinking straight, and struggled with basic chores.'

'Patients report brain fog as a consequence of chronic conditions including fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and lupus. '

'“One of the biggest hypotheses for what underlies brain fog in all of these different conditions is neuroinflammation,” Becker says.

'Nath and his team are also studying the effects of intravenous immunoglobulin, an antibody that is used to treat immunological disorders like lupus, on long COVID. The theory is that it will suppress the immune system’s excessive inflammatory response, which would in turn keep the body from damaging healthy cells and alleviate brain fog. Next, they also want to try using checkpoint inhibitors, a type of immunotherapy typically used to help the body's immune system fight cancer, in cases of long COVID, too.'

 

April 10, 2025 - Yale School of Public Health: 'The State of Long COVID: A Panel Discussion with Researchers, Disability Advocates, and Students'

Panelists - including Yale Medicine's Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, Mt. Sinai's Dr. David Putrino, and more - will discuss Long COVID's far-reaching effects, emerging scientific findings about its causes, and hopeful developments in prevention and treatment, while advocates and students will share their perspectives on navigating viral threats.

The event can be attended in-person at the Winslow Auditorium, or virtually on Zoom.

 

KPBS: 'Patients struggle with long COVID years after pandemic began'

'San Diegans like Jason Rissman are still fighting to recover — not just physically, but in a health care system that often fails to support them'

 

Boosting from #NotJustFatigue.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1909671972327276879


Text: "Just received word that Dr. W. Ian Lipkin is doing a live podcast with Howard Zucker TOMORROW Wednesday April 9 at 1 pm ET. It’s an opportunity for members of the community to ask questions and highlight concerns. LINK: https://letshang.live/event/d8f2e132-docology-world-health-alert "

 

April 2025 Issue, Access Press: 'ME/CFS, ties to Long COVID are the focus of ongoing research studies'

'Understanding the effects of Long COVID may also mean understanding what is called ME/CFS.'

'Another term used in the MDH presentation is “crash.” A crash is a colloquial term for post-exertion malaise (PEM). It happens when people with ME/CFS use up more energy than they have.'

'Access Press provides coverage of COVID issues with support from the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL). This activity is made possible by a grant from the Long COVID Program of the Minnesota Department of Health.'

 

Is that true? I thought there was more to a "crash" than PEM.

 

Medical dictionary meaning of the term 'crash':

1. A colloquial term for a sudden change for the worse in a patient's health. 2. A colloquial term for acute drug withdrawal.

This does not describe delayed PEM. I think we need to stay away from the term crash.

 

Common Dreams: 'The Lessons of Covid-19 and Its Long Haul: We Need Community Care'

'An estimated 7.5% of adults in the United States suffer from Long Covid..from brain fog..to bedridden fatigue...I know this because it happened to me.'

'Aches and pains, post-exertional malaise, and a weakened immune system circumscribe my daily activities.'

'To be sure, we still need to push institutions at the local and federal levels to make available personal protective equipment and resources for frontline workers, better access to healthcare, more research on Long Covid and other underfunded chronic conditions such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).'

 

RFK Jr. says HHS will determine the cause of autism by September

RFK Jr. says HHS will determine the cause of autism by September

 

I read that Andrew Wakefield (ex doctor) did his first feature thriller film in Hollywood in 2024 called Protocol-7, which claims the mumps jab causes serious long-term health issues.

 

4/12/25, "‘We Don't Have to Prove to People How We're Feeling’: Understanding the Role of Peer Support Groups in Countering Epistemic Injustices in Long COVID at a US Centre"

'Long COVID patients are at risk of experiencing epistemic injustice in seeking healthcare for this complex condition.'

 

Wall Street Journal: 'Is Covid Rewriting the Rules of Aging? Brain Decline Alarms Doctors'

'Millions of long-Covid patients continue to struggle with cognitive difficulties'

 

Medscape: 'Long COVID Symptoms Persist up to 3 Yrs Post-Hospitalisation'

'Additionally, post-exertional malaise (PEM) affected nearly one third of patients at 3 years after discharge.'

 

up to?
it’s really weird how the headlines have continually assumed the end of the study means the long COVID just magically stops.

At the beginning of the pandemic we were getting headlines about how it can last upto 3 months, later on upto 1 year, now upto 3 years — can’t they just take the hint?

 

SCV News: 'April 17: Public Health Town Hall on Long COVID'

"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will host a Town Hall on Long COVID where public health experts & community partners will answer questions on the long-term effects of COVID-19”

This Town Hall is a virtual event to be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17 and will be live streamed at:

http://facebook.com/lapublichealth

https://x.com/lapublichealth

https://youtube.com/lapublichealth

Submit questions at:

TinyURL.com/LongCOVID-Townhall


Panelists:

Dr. Annabelle De St. Maurice, LA County Dept. of Public Health
Dr. Nisha Viswanathan, UCLA Health Long COVID Program
Reda Roundtree, Resident with Long COVID
Dr. Tony Kuo, LA County Dept. of Public Health
Dr. Priya Batra, LA County Dept. of Public Health

 

KPBS (San Diego): 'The isolating and endless journey through long COVID'

'Long COVID has left lasting impacts on individuals' health and daily lives, but for many, it's still an invisible struggle — undiagnosed, untreated and often misunderstood.'

(12 min audio)

Excerpts:

"...one woman told me it's been a long, lonely journey and they're suffering in silence."

"A lot of people, you know, have different symptoms. Some have brain fog...some have cardiac issues and they can't tolerate physical activity. I spoke with one doctor who a few minutes, you know, on the playground with his kids, sends them to bed for about 14 hours."

'The closure of the Federal Office for Long COVID research is a big blow. That office was coordinating national efforts, and losing it risks slowing progress, stalling clinical trials and delaying answers that these patients desperately need..so some of the folks that I spoke with, they just feel forgotten by the system. And these cuts reinforce that feeling."

"They're trying to work, care for families or just get out of bed. And many aren't being properly diagnosed. So these stories help put a human face on what can feel like a distance issue and helps these people feel less invisible."

"They hope for research that leads to real answers and a system that doesn't make them fight so hard for care."

 

News Week: Brain Tumors Reported Among 6 Staff Members at Boston Hospital

A series of brain tumor diagnoses among staff members at a Massachusetts hospital has sparked concern and prompted dual investigations by the hospital's administration and the nurses' union.

Six employees of Mass General Brigham's Newton-Wellesley Hospital have been diagnosed with various non-cancerous brain tumors, according to officials and union representatives. Mass General Brigham told Newsweek that the employees were "not all currently on the unit, with differing years of diagnosis." The hospital added that some are current staff, while others worked there in some capacity in the past.