DavidMore and more people: "David, why do you still care and are you still worried about Covid?"
Me: "Because I still learn and read about it."
https://open.substack.com/pub/erictopol/p/the-brain-and-long-covid
skua@David
#Covid #CovidExcessDeaths #CovidLongTermEffects #CovidResearch
Maybe you can help me with a couple of queries about Covid and its medium and long term effects.
I've read many studies that point at many negative effects.
1. Have the effects of influenzas and other virii on humans been studied in similar detail? Do influenzas etc have similar system wide effects?
Or is Covid very unusual?
@David
2/2
2. These system wide negative effects would, if they're causing deaths, appear in the excess deaths.
So far AIUI the excess death numbers are low. How does this fit with Covid having negative effects in so many tissues and organs? It seems most people are quite capable of living with the damage that Covid has done to them, at least so far.
I'm wondering why things don't look really bad on the excess death numbers currently.
@skua You understand that "alive and healthy" and "dead" are not the only states of a body, right?
@David
Yeah.
I must be underestimating the abilities of bodies to carry on even with all the neg effects of Covid happening.
Yeah.
I must be underestimating the abilities of bodies to carry on even with all the neg effects of Covid happening.
@skua Sorry I was a bit unkind yesterday, but basically that's been one of the big issues with communication about COVID. The focus on death has been too strong in my opinion. Yes, of course, it kills. But Death and being fine are not the only possible outcomes, and most people seem to only focus on these. There are also all the ways it can maim you, disable you and overall mess you up. And nowadays, they're a much bigger issue and more likely outcome than dying. But few people care.
@David
No worries. You were a model of restraint compared to some of my ventings.
I suppose death figures are easier to create and communicate compared to injury figures.
And the system has struggled even with death figures.
And its all made political on top as well.
The failures in metrics around Covid has been an eye-opener for me.
And it looks like they're just giving on providing individuals with the information they need to make informed decisions about their health and Covid.
@skua Exactly.
And in Japan, right now it's very disheartening. It was one of the few countries where the powers that be sort of listened to the science, we had lots of various sets of data, but the PM decided that not, it was over (mostly as a groveling act to the West) and no more data is published. Just a weekly number of hospitalizations, and that's all.
emma@skua
This is one of the best articles I've come across on "brain fog"/disorder of executive functioning. It's affected me since early childhood. The only part of "long covid" that's new is the specific cause.
Please wear your mask and do everything you can to protect yourself and those around you. Every infection is a roll of the die and with worsening odds.
@emmaaum @David
#BrainFog #ExecutiveFunctionDisorder
Thanks for posting this Emma. It's useful for me in multiple ways.
As I see it;
We've got responsibilities, to ourselves, others and the environment.
And having knowledge and applying it wisely is how those responsibilities get met.
Not always a happy thing - it can just be a relief to have got something unpleasant done, or fulfilling, satisfying.
Which might sound totally joyless. 😀
I also see us having responsibilities to others to, where practicable, demonstrate that life is really worth living. And a parallel responsibility to ourselves.