Issue 21.8: Hold On a Second …
Stat News, a health and medicine website that gets high marks from us for the quality of its editorial and approach to news, published an interesting opinion piece on Long Covid this week. The article, “We need to start thinking more critically — and speaking more cautiously — about long Covid,” was written by Adam Gaffney, a pulmonary and critical care physician who practices at the Cambridge Health Alliance, in Cambridge, Mass.
Gaffney argues that mainstream stories on Long Covid were not cautious enough with their descriptions and might be promoting unnecessary anxiety, even panic, about a little-studied disorder.
As Gaffney writes: “I … worry that the narrative about a new chronic disease caused by a mild infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is getting ahead of the evidence.”
Gaffney urges caution, noting some sufferers have no proof they were ever infected with SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19. He also finds that many of the symptoms that have been reported are not unusual: “Gastrointestinal symptoms, confusion and forgetfulness (“brain fog”), severe fatigue, hair loss, and headaches are surprisingly common, even in the general population.”
Okay, all good. But then he discusses the mental health aspect of this worldwide pandemic: “We should expect a surge in both mental anguish and physical suffering that, while connected to the once-in-a-century pandemic, will not always be directly connected to SARS-COV-2 itself.”
He favors “policies to stem psychosocial suffering stemming from the trauma of the pandemic,” and notes that the cause of this suffering can be “virologic and psychosocial.”
That’s not the same thing as saying it’s “all in your head” — but we wouldn’t be surprised if some, even many, readers heard that message.
Our Take:
At first glance our initial impression was negative. Gaffney treads tricky ground by introducing the mental health theme, a trope that, as we have pointed out before, has been used when medical science does not have the answers.
But on further examination, that isn’t really his intent. He is trying to spotlight the undeniable fact that medical science does not have a firm understanding of Long Covid, and until it does, more measured writing about the causes of these symptoms is necessary. In medical research a level of professional skepticism is always in order, an observation also made in this paywalled article from the Wall Street Journal. We would agree with that assessment.
Quotation(s) of the Week:
“Kent battled and fought hard like the former track champion that he was, but the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable.”
—Travis Doster for the Texas Roadhouse steakhouse chain, commenting on the suicide of its CEO and founder, Kent Taylor. Taylor reportedly had severe tinnitus as a Long Covid sufferer.
News of the Week:
Nature Medicine published an excellent review of the current state of medical knowledge about post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. The article is tough sledding for those who are not familiar with medical writing or the science in general, but it represents the first summary that we are aware of where all Long Covid information is assembled in one place. It is worth the time if you can wade through it. Our clinician-readers would be highly advised to check it out.
Tweet of the Week:
Liptrot is a TV reporter in London, England. Her story about Long Covid is available here.
Homework:
Take this 10-15 minute survey at “Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study” website. It will help advance the science and maybe help you! Please do this as soon as possible!
Exeunt:
Folks, we started this newsletters just a few short months ago when we felt that Long Covid was a rising and under-appreciated threat. There were few articles about it in the mainstream media, and science journals had only the barest dollop of information coming from researchers.
But in just these short months the subject of Long Covid is regularly mentioned in the press and on the web, and major research efforts are now on-going, like the Hopkins study noted above. Results — and, we hope, answers — are on the way.
At some point we realized, Hey, this newsletter to get the word out is no longer really needed.
So we have decided to make this our final newsletter. We hope it has helped those of you who have read it. As medical journalists we will continue to watch developments as they unfold, and if there is a reason … we’ll be back.
Good luck and good health to all!