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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLong after the fire of a Covid-19 infection, mental and neurological effects can still smolder
Stat News
By ELIZABETH COONEY AUGUST 12, 2020
Early on, patients with both mild and severe Covid-19 say they cant breathe. Now, after recovering from the infection, some of them say they cant think.
Even people who were never sick enough to go to a hospital, much less lie in an ICU bed with a ventilator, report feeling something as ill-defined as Covid fog or as frightening as numbed limbs. Theyre unable to carry on with their lives, exhausted by crossing the street, fumbling for words, or laid low by depression, anxiety, or PTSD.
As many as 1 in 3 patients recovering from Covid-19 could experience neurological or psychological after-effects of their infections, experts told STAT, reflecting a growing consensus that the disease can have lasting impact on the brain. Beyond the fatigue felt by long haulers as they heal post-Covid, these neuropsychological problems range from headache, dizziness, and lingering loss of smell or taste to mood disorders and deeper cognitive impairment. Dating to early reports from China and Europe, clinicians have seen people suffer from depression and anxiety. Muscle weakness and nerve damage sometimes mean they cant walk.
Its not only an acute problem. This is going to be a chronic illness, said Wes Ely, a pulmonologist and critical care physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who studies delirium during intensive care stays. The problem for these people is not over when they leave the hospital.
Doctors have concerns that patients may also suffer lasting damage to their heart, kidneys, and liver from the inflammation and blood clotting the disease causes.
Much more here
https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/12/after-covid19-mental-neurological-effects-smolder/
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)That would then mean that preventing the spread is not just about deaths, but long-term and severe impact on the people who contract it and survive.
It's not just a black and white thing as in die or recover, which may be the more common perception in the mainstream. This needs to be emphasized more.
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)So why does our current admin want to many people disabled or dead? Other than for a pat on the head & a smile from Putib? 🤬
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)The Fascist, authoritarian mentality would consider a ravaged country easier prey since that kind of chaos is like disaster capitalism. There are views that populism/nationalism and authoritarians thrive on it. This Administration's actions so far indicate they are definitely in that camp.
Some people are more prone to look to that "I alone can fix it!" approach and want somebody dominant in charge. It's not new. They may be counting on the worse this gets, the more vulnerable and prone to submission some people will get. Fear is the only motivator and that bypasses thoughtfulness and reason. Panic can provoke more visceral reactions.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)I know two people who came down with COVID-19 in March. While they are no longer in immediate mortal danger, many of the symptoms of COVID-19 have not gone awayparticularly the blood clots, the shortness of breath, and the puffy, watery eyes.
COVID-19, for some people, appears to be a chronic illness.
-Laelth
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)BComplex
(8,066 posts)I really think that many of the Karens and Kens who have gone apeshit are really having chronic mental symptoms of COVID.
davsand
(13,421 posts)Opening schools becomes even less palatable when you consider an entire generation with the potential of a lifetime struggle to function. Hopefully these after-effects will reduce or extinguish with time, but the only way to know will be long after the initial illness.
Laura