A new study further confirms cognitive decline after Covid.
The study weeded out depression and other issues in people with Long Covid or Post-Covid Conditions (PCC) from the effects of Covid-induced brain damage to find,
"The present study reported a significant psychomotor slowing in individuals diagnosed with PCC. Importantly, this cannot be attributed to poor global cognition, fatigue, mental health-related symptoms, or speed-accuracy trade-off. Additionally, the data indicate that this impairment does not improve over time."
Eric Topol made a simple chart to show the comparison between people without Covid (age-matched healthy individuals), those who have had Covid but not Long Covid/PCC, and those with Long Covid/PCC.
The part that worries me most about this is that, 12-weeks post infection,
without having any lingering symptoms that prompts inclusion in the Long Covid group, almost 20% of people have
severe impairment in thinking. I can't help enmesh this information with a sense of an increase in bizarre car accidents - people hitting posts and buildings and pedestrians on sidewalks.
The other issue that has to be addressed is that many schools are pushing for 100% attendance. In one of my upcoming courses, the syllabus reads that the course is about "the complexity that exists in oppressions and privileges," but also says, "Students who miss class without medical explanation will lose a point for each class missed. . . . Students who miss more than 50% of classes without adequate explanation will not pass the class." Avoiding a classroom of coughing, unmasked students when Covid hospitalizations are very high in the area is not acceptable. If someone's avoiding class because they live with someone immunocompromised, then they can't get a medical note for themselves, and must come to class.
Not only are schools causing the spread of a disease that harms the brain, they are doing nothing to manage the increase in disabilities. Many places, like Ontario, are losing EA supports. They could avoid the amount of resources they'll soon require to accommodate students who are unable to learn as quickly as their peers by accommodating students who are trying to avoid getting sick!
Healthcare centers also need to check their ableism. Not only are people's concerns ignored, being labeled with a mental health condition of any type can affect the level of care provided for actual physical symptoms. It shouldn't be necessary for patients to prove how they feel.
"For people who do not wear a mask to prevent their own Covid-19 infection or the spread of teh virus which is known to cause potentially serious long-term health issues: why don't you wear a mask? What is your plan to protect yourself and others? And before anyone comments below-if you are not the audience for this question, please don't answer it. This is not a WWE match."
And she stops any comments or arguments from people who break her rules. People's risk-assessment there interests me. One commented that only 0.1% of people are affected by Covid, which is true if you look at the death rates. It's the third cause of death, but just takes 1 in 1,000 people. By comparison, the death rate for cancer in Canada is about 0.2%, or 1 in 500 people. BUT, that's not the number affected by Covid. My concern isn't the death rate, but the disability rate, which is estimated at about 20%, or 1 in 5 people who have had Covid.
Who will be left to take care of people, much less keep society functioning, if we continue down this path of allowing more and more people to catch this disease??
There's no cure for Long Covid, only prevention by avoiding Covid.
***
"1. Covid is predominantly airborne. [It can cross a room in minutes and linger for hours.]
2. Over 50% of transmission is from asymptomatic people. [They feel perfectly healthy!!]
3. Long Covid is real and impacts a substantial number of people. We've NEVER EVER EVER had these three things told to us by the system. Not once. Not by our leaders." And also...
4. Vaccines help reduce severity of cases, but can't eliminate transmission (yet), and they wane in effectiveness within months because Covid mutates so fast (because of all the spread!)
5. N95s trap Covid using inertial impaction, diffusion, interception, and electrostatic attraction.
They really work!!
6. Covid's the
#3 killer in Canada, and we don't
know how many people it has disabled. Avoid being one of them. There is no effective treatment for Long Covid, only prevention. Be wise with N95s!
Well-fitting N95s reduce transmission by about 95% - even higher if everyone wears them; cleaning the air helps by about 30%, and vaccines reduces hospitalization by 60%. Put together, we could ALL be 99.999% protected from this mess and more! We don't have to get sick every winter; it's a choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment