Malcolm's Geek Blog

More COVID and Long COVID tweets and links

Two people in white T0shirts hold up a sign reading: "PANDEMIC #COVID19"

An update to the last post, I collected a lot of links and tweets, which I’ll attempt to organize here.

FWIW, I am not a doctor. My background is that my father was a biochemist, I have a B.S. in chemistry, some grad work in physical chemistry, experimental design, philosophy of science, statistics, data analytics, etc., all about the rigorousness and design of science and scientific experiments. I can be a severe stickler about serious science and have been known to challenge poorly reviewed scientific publications and bullshit science, but I don’t have enough background to fact-check everything.

I am fully capable of reading and evaluating medical scientific publications (to my doctors’ great distress), summarizing, and even recommending them for bibliographies. And I sometimes do! But I still work in conjunction with actual doctors and specialists on my own medical care, because I may be a bit hyper about all of it, but I’m not crazy enough to think my knowledge or experience is comprehensive.

So these links have passed my sniff test for bullshit, but I cannot vouch for every single one.

Most of these were links and tweets and Twitter threads I collected in September & October 2022. But sub-tweets may be from earlier publication dates.

At this time, the President of the US and most but not all of the FDA and CDC are weirdly unconcerned about COVID, Long COVID, etc., citing economic concerns, and other capitalist talking points. So we’re on our own, so it behooves us, in my opinion, to know what is contemporary science, and make our own decisions.

I personally believe that capitalism is a long-term and potent threat to doing good, reproducible, reliable science, but I know for certain that capitalism infests contemporary science, politics, and the media, and there are pretty much no leaders willing to spend or risk capital (social, economic, in gold bullion or otherwise) to protect reliable science from the threats of capitalism to corrupt, so if you want to have a solid scientific baseline, it falls to laypeople to do our own scientific literacy, watching, and consumption. Which sucks, because it invites whacko conspiracy theories.

But to be honest, I think we’re at a point where the risk from established media outlets, politicians, and wealthy capitalists is greater than the threat posed by whacko conspiracies. It’s certainly a balance point and a cusp, but I strongly recommend gaining your own literacy, reading literature, and getting a good sense of the situation yourself. DON’T let others do your reading an interpretation for you. Take no one’s word.

  • Long COVID/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
    • Tweet by Ebony Jade Hilton, MD: “If you’re all of a sudden having weird symptoms: extreme fatigue, numbness/pain, chest pain, acid reflux, irritable bowel, shortness of breath, dizziness, changes in senses, onset of diabetes or other autoimmune diseases, & you previously had COVID… you’ve now entered Long COVID”. Posted 10/3/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by Farid Jalali MD: “For the nth time: Your “I-never-had-COVID-I-mean-I-never-had-any-symptoms-so-I-never-had-it” lines are getting tiring. Your last 3 months of nausea, not tolerating food, unresolving acid reflux symptoms, and incessant diarrhea did not come out of thin air.”. Posted 10/3/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by Alan Baxter: “At 12 months after infection, the risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and other complications including sudden death are about double compared to people who were never infected.” – C Raina MacIntyre, Brendan Crabb and Nancy Baxter. Posted 10/2/2022. Link.
    • Australian Broadcasting Company: “Chronic kidney disease is on the rise, and COVID-19 is making matters worse”. Published 10/2/2022. Link.
    • Springer: “Impaired left ventricular deformation and ventricular-arterial coupling in post-COVID-19: association with autonomic dysregulation”. Published 9/28/2022. Link.
    • Nature Medicine: “Lingering cardiac involvement in previously well people after mild COVID-19”. Published 9/26/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Long-term neurologic outcomes of COVID-19”. Published 9/22/2022. Link.
    • AHA Journals: “Association of COVID-19 With Major Arterial and Venous Thrombotic Diseases: A Population-Wide Cohort Study of 48 Million Adults in England and Wales”. Published 9/19/2022. Link.
    • World Health Organization: “Clinical management of COVID-19: Living guideline, 15 September 2022”. Published 9/15/2022. Link.
    • Science: “Understanding myalgic encephalomyelitis: Myalgic encephalomyelitis and Long Covid have overlapping presentation”. Published 9/8/2022. Link.
    • MDPI: “Long COVID (PASC) Is Maintained by a Self-Sustaining Pro-Inflammatory TLR4/RAGE-Loop of S100A8/A9 > TLR4/RAGE Signalling, Inducing Chronic Expression of IL-1b, IL-6 and TNFa: Anti-Inflammatory Ezrin Peptides as Potential Therapy”. Published 9/8/2022. Link.
    • Nature Medicine: “Long-term cardiac pathology in individuals with mild initial COVID-19 illness”. Published 9/5/2022. Link.
    • Frontiers in Immunology: “Case report: Persistence of residual antigen and RNA of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in tissues of two patients with long COVID”. Published 9/5/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by @organichemusic: “#LongCovid Prescription Survey RESULTS
      Lots of charts & data – don’t miss anything:
      1) comparison charts
      2) individual drug pie charts
      3) Observations on data
      Let’s get started!” Posted 9/4/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by Dr Greg Kelly: “My prediction on #COVID19 having been a doctor for almost 20 yrs & been deeply involved in the pandemic: It will end, eventually, through slow adoption of NPIs + mucosal vax. BUT, if you have bad #longcovid by then we prob WON’T HAVE CURE in your lifetime. So avoid until then”. Posted 9/3/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by Dr. Markus Fraczek: “Essential scientific publication on ME/CFS A list of publications you can give your doctor to read to explain what #MECFS is (i.e. papers readily available to non-experts). Including #LongCovid, #PEM, #MCAS, #POTS Comments/DM are welcome. Scientific publications only.”. Posted 9/3/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by @indehisce: “1/ A fresh, running thread on COVID’s well-documented cardiovascular harms for anyone who needs links when discussing the rise in heart failure and strokes among younger and middle-aged people since 2020:”. Posted 9/3/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by Dr Claire Taylor: “1/ a case study we should learn from
      – 14 years old. Covid October 2020. Develops a fast heart rate and chest pain.
      – 7 MONTHS later is admitted to hospital for investigations.
      – what follows is a stream of normal results
      bloods/CT chest/cardiac MRI/ECG…” Posted 9/3/2022. Link.
    • Portland Press: “The potential role of ischaemia–reperfusion injury in chronic, relapsing diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Long COVID, and ME/CFS: evidence, mechanisms, and therapeutic implication”. (Microclots) Published 8/31/2022. Link. (Warning: Very laggy page.)
    • Nature: “A prospective observational study of post-COVID-19 chronic fatigue syndrome following the first pandemic wave in Germany and biomarkers associated with symptom severity”. Published 8/30/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Could tiny blood clots cause long COVID’s puzzling symptoms? Scientists debate evidence for a micro-clot hypothesis that has some people pursuing potentially risky treatments.” Published 8/24/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Heart disease after COVID: what the data say: Some studies suggest that the risk of cardiovascular problems, such as a heart attack or stroke, remains high even many months after a SARS-CoV-2 infection clears up. Researchers are starting to pin down the frequency of these issues and what is causing the damage.” Published 8/2/2022. Link.
    • Journal of Clinical Investigation: “Long COVID endotheliopathy: hypothesized mechanisms and potential therapeutic approaches”. Published 8/1/2022. Link.
    • Pharmaceuticals: “The Occurrence of Hyperactivated Platelets and Fibrinaloid Microclots in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)”. Published 7/27/2022. Link.
    • Springer: “Post-COVID-Syndrom mit Fatigue und Belastungsintoleranz: Myalgische Enzephalomyelitis bzw. Chronisches Fatigue-Syndrom”. Published 7/13/2022. Link.
    • JAMA: “Advances in Understanding the Pathophysiology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”. Published 7/5/2022. Link.
    • ME Action: “Introducing #MEAction’s 2019 ME Research Summary”. Bibliography. Published 6/12/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Long COVID risk falls only slightly after vaccination, huge study shows: Results suggest that vaccines offer less protection against lingering symptoms than expected.” Published 5/25/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes”. Published 5/18/2022. Link.
    • Scientific American: “Even Mild COVID Can Increase the Risk of Heart Problems”. Published 3/16/2022. Link.
    • Johns Hopkins: “COVID and the Heart: It Spares No One: Research now tells us that COVID doesn’t discriminate when it comes to heart problems.” Published: 3/14/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “SARS-CoV-2 is associated with changes in brain structure in UK Biobank”. Published 3/7/2022. Link.
    • NPR: “For some patients, cardiovascular problems persist long after COVID”. Published 3/5/2022. Link.
    • JAMA: “The COVID Heart – One Year After SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Patients Have an Array of Increased Cardiovascular Risks”. Published 3/2/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19”. Published 3/2022. Link.
    • Nature: “Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case: Massive study shows a long-term, substantial rise in risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.” Published 2/10/2022. Link.
    • Science: “COVID-19 takes serious toll on heart health—a full year after recovery: Giant study shows striking rise in long-term heart and vessel disease”. Published 2/9/2022. Link.
    • Nature Medicine: “Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19”. Published 2/7/2022. Link.
    • Mayo Clinic Proceedings: “Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Essentials of Diagnosis and Management”. Published 11/2021. Link.
    • NICE guideline. Published 10/2021. Link.
    • MDPI: “Turning a Corner in ME/CFS Research”. Published 9/25/2021. Link.
    • Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection: “Evidence of lung perfusion defects and ongoing inflammation in an adolescent with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection”. Published 7/31/2021. Link.
    • Science: “COVID-19 can affect the heart: COVID-19 has a spectrum of potential heart manifestations with diverse mechanisms”. Published 9/23/2020. Link.
    • The Lancet Neurology: “COVID-19 related stroke in young individuals”. Published 9/1/2020. Link.
    • MDPI: “Post-Exertional Malaise Is Associated with Hypermetabolism, Hypoacetylation and Purine Metabolism Deregulation in ME/CFS Cases”. Published 7/4/2019. Link.
  •  Science/Technical
    • Nature: “SARS-CoV-2 disrupts host epigenetic regulation via histone mimicry”. Published 10/5/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by T. Ryan Gregory: “It needs to be emphasized that what we’re seeing with SARS-CoV-2 variant evolution now is something new.”. Posted 10/5/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by @WonderfulDay01: Diagram of Omicron lineages. Posted 10/2/2022. Link.
    • Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection: “Beyond the clot: perfusion imaging of the pulmonary vasculature after COVID-19”. Published 11/17/2020. Link.
    • Critical Care and Resuscitation: “Microvascular COVID-19 lung vessels obstructive thromboinflammatory syndrome (MicroCLOTS): an atypical acute respiratory distress syndrome working hypothesis”. Published 6/2020. Link.
    • PubMed: “Microvascular COVID-19 lung vessels obstructive thromboinflammatory syndrome (MicroCLOTS): an atypical acute respiratory distress syndrome working hypothesis”. Published 4/15/2020. Link.
  • Public Policy
    • The Conversation: “If you think scrapping COVID isolation periods will get us back to work and past the pandemic, think again”. Published 9/30/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by Dr Dan Goyal: “The power of disinformation is mind-blowing & it’s dangerous. Let me give you a very recent example that almost certainly cost lives… 1/n” Posted 10/3/2022. Link.
    • The Lancet: “The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic”. Published 9/14/2022. Link.
    • BMJ: “How covid-19 spreads: narratives, counter narratives, and social dramas”. Published 8/31/2022. Link.
  • Statistics
    • Tweet by Quentin Grafton: “Australian deaths up 17% from baseline to 30/06/22; up about 10% EXCLUDING COVID deaths. Higher non-COVID deaths not unique to Australia & hypothesise primarily due to post COVID morbidities/sequelae. https://abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release @MarylouiseMcla1 @Tom_Kompas @DanSuan2”. Posted 10/5/2022. Link.
    • Tweet by @loscharlos: “Ok how severe is for the up to 1 in 5 infected? We now know:
      • 75% experience limitations in their daily activities
      • 25% experience severe limitations
      • 25% experience no limitations
      This means up to 1 in 7 infected experience some disability from infection.” Posted 10/5/2022. Link.
  • No mention of COVID, but curious timing
    • Australian Broadcasting Company: “Researchers investigate ‘frightening’ numbers and causes of cardiac arrest in younger Australians”. Published 10/2/2022. Link.
  • Unrelated medicine?
    • Tweet by Dr Ellie Murray, ScD: “Are respiratory infections secretly preventing cancer? No. Do small amounts of debris from certain bacteria help prevent allergies & fight cancer? Maybe? Does infection with certain bacteria & viruses *cause* cancer? Yes, that’s a fact! Infections & cancer, a thread”. Talks about vaccinations and other epigenetics/epidemiology. Posted 10/2/2022. Link.

Feel free to let me know if you see other juice tweets/publications. Happy to track and post omnibuses periodically.

(Featured image: Photo by cottonbro from Pexels.)

Malcolm Gin

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