Post-COVID-19 Symptom Burden: What is Long-COVID and How Should We Manage It?, Sykes et al, 2021

My bolding.

Open access, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00408-021-00423-z

 

“With the paucity of evidence available, we question whether Long-COVID exists as a new disease with distinct pathophysiology. We suggest it is a new manifestation of a well-recognised phenomenon that can be observed after other traumatic events, as opposed to the persistent effect of COVID-19. The current evidence suggests that classic post-viral respiratory symptoms, such as cough, are less frequent in Long-COVID patients [15]. Indeed, our study reinforces this, as we report a modest (35%) prevalence of cough. For these reasons, we believe that resource allocation should prioritise rehabilitation and psychological support with less emphasis on advanced diagnostics and specialist respiratory services.”

EUGH.

 

Extensive biomedical testing should be a requirement before classifying Long Covid as psychological, and its sufferers as having a psychological illness.

From many articles it is stated that COVID-19 has serious effects on organ systems. It is not clear if these have been examined and found healthy; eg kidney and brain function in the study subjects.

 

Are they referring to PICS (post intensive care syndrome)?

Problems can involve the patient's body, thoughts, feelings, or mind and may affect the family. PICS may show up as an easily noticed drawn-out muscle weakness, known as ICU-acquired weakness; as problems with thinking and judgment, called cognitive (brain) dysfunction; and as other mental health problems.

 

With covid 19 we've had a global pandemic, lock-downs, people being isolated from support (social, medical, psychological). It's a situation where there are far more 'psychosocial' factors that risk leading to people feeling bad than normal, and who knows in what ways that could get included in Long Covid. We've previously seen how some poor quality research has made exaggerated claims about links between psychosocial factors and PVFS but we're back at square one again here. I think that we're going to have to be very cautious.

 

Well, using imaging techniques that can only reveal gross structural abnormalities, and doing bloodwork to look for a bunch nonspecific inflammatory markers certainly is how postviral syndromes are handled in clinical practice, so at least the paper has that going for it.

I should like to ask how the "posttraumatic" model they cite in (13;14) would explain LC phenomena in unhospitalized patients, but maybe those are just particularly lacking in resilience? After all, they do not fail to point out the correlation between female sex and anxiety, and that's the usual immediate "demographic extrapolation" undertaken when clinicians look at data like this, rather than increased risk of autoimmune disease...

 

All eyes on the NIH, literally the only hope. If they fail, long haulers are doomed with us. Incredible. Instead of moving forward medicine is pulling heavily backwards, receding into the belief system.

I don't know why I expected better. Medicine is broken beyond any chance of repair.

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1360281120256966656


https://twitter.com/user/status/1360281124145102852


https://twitter.com/user/status/1360281127827742733

 

Aren't males traditionally trained to ignore/minimise 'anxiety', 'fatigue' and pain?

Isn't this traditionally what males do?

So less males reporting such things doesn't necessarily indicate that they experience less of them, only that they have been trained, since childhood, that complaining about such things isn't 'manly'.

 

i will ask again why do so many name have to be attached to such poor quality papers that you would believe were copy pasted from the tripe published by old farts in the eighteenth century . how many teachers in todays schools would consider this as plagiarism of eighteenth century opinion pieces .

 

There is a flaw in their reasoning. Their premise is that psychological distress is expressed by the body as physical symptoms. Then they say that women are more likely to be anxious. But if all these women were expressing their anxiety as physical symptoms then they should not appear more anxious but less!

Unless there is so much anxiety it spills over, or something, or whatever, you are harassing me.

When you try to make sense of what they are saying there is none. Everything is written to seem plausible with no science behind it and leaps of logic abounding.

It is acceptable in a science fiction film but modern medicine should be better than a Star Trek warp drive.