The COVID Long Haulers: Facing the Cognitive and Physical Consequences, June 22, 2021

Many COVID-19 survivors of all ages experience alarming neurological and physical signs and symptoms post-infection. Dementia-like symptoms, including memory loss and confusion—described as "brain fog"—are lingering burdens for some, while others confront an array of physical symptoms including shortness of breath, cough, and chronic fatigue. Several studies are in progress to investigate the impact of COVID-19, including a possibly increased risk of later-life cognitive decline or dementia. Researchers, clinicians, and health policy makers are striving to understand COVID-19's long-term impact as well as the supports needed by survivors and their families.


https://milkeninstitute.org/video/covid-long-haulers
June 22, 1:30 pm PDT / 4:30 pm EDT


Moderator
Elizabeth Cooney
General Assignment Reporter, STAT

Speakers
Nisreen Alwan
Long-COVID Patient; Associate Professor of Public Health, University of Southampton

Walter Koroshetz
Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health

David Putrino
Director, Rehabilitation Innovation, Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Heather Snyder
Vice President, Medical and Scientific Relations, Alzheimer's Association

 

Here is the moderators email

elizabeth.cooney@statnews.com


I just wrote her to please ask Koroshetz to provide any evidence that "Long Covid" with the exact symptoms of ME/CFS is a novel disease, and mentioned that NIH has vastly underfunded ME/CFS research, and that NIH might be deflecting from calling "Long Covid" ME/CFS due to their long record of underfunding ME/CFS. If others have energy/interest today, perhaps you could also also email Elizabeth in the next couple of hours.....

 

And I got a nice reply......

__________________________________________________
Thanks for this -- appreciate it.
Liz
Elizabeth Cooney
Reporter
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Mobile: (617) 752-1491
STAT Reporting from the frontiers of health and medicine
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Bump...this is on now.....Koroshetz says long Covid was "unanticipated".....

 

Archived video of the livestream is at

Code:

https://vimeo.com/560420642

Actual livestream starts just before the 8 minute mark.

 

It is interesting that the value of a scientific theory/approach is its ability to predict the future. Those that are expressing surprise at the existence of Long Covid should perhaps ask what was wrong with their understanding of post viral conditions and wonder which groups were not surprised.

ME patient forums and charities were from the start predicting this and advocating the need for prospective studies taking advantage of this grim opportunity, researchers already working on the biological underpinnings of post viral conditions were predicting this and some have e tended their previous research to include Long Covid, even before it had a name.

Though it is important to distinguish those that predicted from those that are seeking to jump on the band wagon, as with the BPS advocates of graded exercise therapy and CBT, who are presenting their controversial approach as a ready made solution rather than beginning with research and without asking Long Covid suffers to analyse their symptoms and respond appropriately.

 

Given that he answered a question from pwME in March of 2020 about this, saying he hoped it wouldn't happen but that they should be prepared for it...

Small lies like this go a long way to reducing someone's credibility. Easy lies, easy to dispute.