closelook at wuhan virus in your lungs

[kaninabuchaojibye]

Horrifying Images Show How the Coronavirus Ravages Our Lungs

An image of SARS-COV-2 virions infecting the cells that line the airways of our lungs. The image is taken at 1 micrometer magnification.
Image: Camille Ehre/The New England Journal of Medicine ©2020

Horrifying Images Show How the Coronavirus Ravages Our Lungs

Here’s a closer look at the coronavirus that causes covid-19, courtesy of new research published in the New England Journal of Medicine Thursday. These images depicting the coronavirus en masse infecting human lung cells aren’t just for show either—they might just provide a hint as to why covid-19 can be so devastating to our bodies.

Camille Ehre, a pediatric pulmonologist and lung researcher at the University of North Carolina, and her team created the photo opportunity to understand exactly how the coronavirus interacts with the lung’s airways upon infection, as well as how these infected cells behaved once they were hijacked by the virus. They used cells from the epithelium, or surface, of the lung’s tree-like airways, taken from transplanted lungs, and grew them in the lab. Then they exposed the cells to the coronavirus, officially dubbed SARS-CoV-2, and let nature take over from there. The infection experiments all took in a Biosafety Level 3 lab, reserved for studying some of the most dangerous germs in the world.

Viruses are essentially a tiny package of proteins and genetic material (either DNA or RNA, as with SARS-CoV-2) that break into and hijack living cells. Then they force these infected cells to produce and send out more copies of themselves into the world, which starts the process all over again. Usually, this process eventually leads to the death of the cell itself. Viruses are so dependent on other organisms that it’s still a fierce debate among scientists on whether they should be considered a living thing or not.

The images above and below show individual fully intact copies of the virus, called virons, roaming free around the airway cells 96 hours post-infection. They were taken under a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which is needed to see incredibly small things like viruses. The ball-looking things are SARS-CoV-2, while the bendy churro-looking structures are cells with cilia, the hair-like projections that move in rhythm to clear debris, mucus and microbes from the airways, allowing us to breathe normally. Ehre found that SARS-CoV-2 was particularly fond of infecting these cililated cells, and that once it did, it went to town making more of itself.

An image of SARS-COV-2 virions infecting the cells that line the airways of our lungs. This image is at 100 nanometers, or 10 times closer than the top image. Image: Camille Ehre/The New England Journal of Medicine ©2020

“When we looked at these infected cultures under an SEM microscope, the most striking observation was the astonishing number of virions produced by a single infected cell,” Ehre said over email. “Some of these infected cells were so engorged with viruses that they rounded up and detached from the epithelium, giving the impression that they were about to burst.”

The high levels of SARS-CoV-2 produced by airway cells (a 3-to-1 ratio in the study) aptly helps explain why the coronavirus can so greatly affect different parts of the body nearby, like the lining of our nasal cavity, which is crucial to our sense of smell, according to Ehre.

“A huge viral load is available to spread within an infected individual and infect the olfactory epithelium, explaining the common symptom of loss of smell, and also infect the salivary glands, which would explain the symptom of dry mouth,” she said. “The worst is when viruses go to the lungs and produce pneumonia that causes shortness of breath and ultimately can lead to death.”

These sorts of findings are important for filling in a piece of the scientific puzzle that is SARS-CoV-2 and covid-19. But for the average person, they might serve as more motivation to keep yourself and others as safe from infection as possible.

“These images of SARS-CoV-2 infected cultures showing ciliated cells jam-packed with viruses releasing large clumps of virus particles make a strong case for the use of masks by infected and uninfected individuals to limit SARS-CoV-2 transmission,” Ehre said.

Personally, the last thing I want is those dirty-looking cotton balls from hell doing the above to my lungs.

 

[whoami]

But Sam still insist covid is mild. Mortality rate very low.

 

[mojito]

The walking dead!

 

[syed putra]

Cars are more dangerous in Asia.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

All the more reason for herd immunity and to let those who get seriously Ill to soylent Green . Because those that are seriously ill will be disabled n being disabled is a fate worse than death.

 

[redbull313]

mild does not mean you are cured. how many will have inflammation and other issues years down the road? and when the truth comes out, people can start pointing the finger at the fucking chink government. go to tanglin rd and demand justice.

 

[Leongsam]

But Sam still insist covid is mild. Mortality rate very low.

I'm not INSISTING all I do is work out the figures based upon the available data that is reliable. eg Singapore 56,000 cases and 28 deaths. Work out the figure for yourself. Dengue is causing more harm at the moment.

Influenza can destroy the lungs too but we don't lock down a whole country because of influenza so why are we doing so because of Covid-19

edition.cnn.com

H1N1 virus attacks deep into the lungs - CNN.com
By Stephanie Smith, CNN Medical Producer

4 minutes


December 8, 2009 -- Updated 2118 GMT (0518 HKT)

Damaged lung tissue is seen as light gray and healthy lung tissue is seen as dark gray in this cross-sectional CT scan of a deceased patient with pulmonary bacterial infection caused by the H1N1 virus. The other organs are white.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Doctors examined records, autopsy reports, and slides of 34 people who died due to H1N1
• Inflammation and damage in the lungs extended all the way to the farthest end of airways
• More than half of the deaths were caused by bacterial pneumonia.
• 91 percent had underlying health condition; obesity was a factor in 72 percent of deaths

 

[Hypocrite-The]

I'm not INSISTING all I do is work out the figures based upon the available data that is reliable. eg Singapore 56,000 cases and 28 deaths. Work out the figure for yourself. Dengue is causing more harm at the moment.

Influenza can destroy the lungs too but we don't lock down a whole country because of influenza so why are we doing so because of Covid-19

edition.cnn.com

H1N1 virus attacks deep into the lungs - CNN.com
By Stephanie Smith, CNN Medical Producer

4 minutes


December 8, 2009 -- Updated 2118 GMT (0518 HKT)

Damaged lung tissue is seen as light gray and healthy lung tissue is seen as dark gray in this cross-sectional CT scan of a deceased patient with pulmonary bacterial infection caused by the H1N1 virus. The other organs are white.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Doctors examined records, autopsy reports, and slides of 34 people who died due to H1N1
• Inflammation and damage in the lungs extended all the way to the farthest end of airways
• More than half of the deaths were caused by bacterial pneumonia.
• 91 percent had underlying health condition; obesity was a factor in 72 percent of deaths

Do all the infected have such lung issues? Perhaps these scientists should be finding out why most are asymptomatic and why some are long haulers n some dead n why some are more vulnerable than others instead of treating all with the same brush

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Horrifying Images Show How the Coronavirus Ravages Our Lungs

An image of SARS-COV-2 virions infecting the cells that line the airways of our lungs. The image is taken at 1 micrometer magnification.
Image: Camille Ehre/The New England Journal of Medicine ©2020

Horrifying Images Show How the Coronavirus Ravages Our Lungs

Here’s a closer look at the coronavirus that causes covid-19, courtesy of new research published in the New England Journal of Medicine Thursday. These images depicting the coronavirus en masse infecting human lung cells aren’t just for show either—they might just provide a hint as to why covid-19 can be so devastating to our bodies.

Camille Ehre, a pediatric pulmonologist and lung researcher at the University of North Carolina, and her team created the photo opportunity to understand exactly how the coronavirus interacts with the lung’s airways upon infection, as well as how these infected cells behaved once they were hijacked by the virus. They used cells from the epithelium, or surface, of the lung’s tree-like airways, taken from transplanted lungs, and grew them in the lab. Then they exposed the cells to the coronavirus, officially dubbed SARS-CoV-2, and let nature take over from there. The infection experiments all took in a Biosafety Level 3 lab, reserved for studying some of the most dangerous germs in the world.

Viruses are essentially a tiny package of proteins and genetic material (either DNA or RNA, as with SARS-CoV-2) that break into and hijack living cells. Then they force these infected cells to produce and send out more copies of themselves into the world, which starts the process all over again. Usually, this process eventually leads to the death of the cell itself. Viruses are so dependent on other organisms that it’s still a fierce debate among scientists on whether they should be considered a living thing or not.

The images above and below show individual fully intact copies of the virus, called virons, roaming free around the airway cells 96 hours post-infection. They were taken under a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which is needed to see incredibly small things like viruses. The ball-looking things are SARS-CoV-2, while the bendy churro-looking structures are cells with cilia, the hair-like projections that move in rhythm to clear debris, mucus and microbes from the airways, allowing us to breathe normally. Ehre found that SARS-CoV-2 was particularly fond of infecting these cililated cells, and that once it did, it went to town making more of itself.

An image of SARS-COV-2 virions infecting the cells that line the airways of our lungs. This image is at 100 nanometers, or 10 times closer than the top image. Image: Camille Ehre/The New England Journal of Medicine ©2020

“When we looked at these infected cultures under an SEM microscope, the most striking observation was the astonishing number of virions produced by a single infected cell,” Ehre said over email. “Some of these infected cells were so engorged with viruses that they rounded up and detached from the epithelium, giving the impression that they were about to burst.”

The high levels of SARS-CoV-2 produced by airway cells (a 3-to-1 ratio in the study) aptly helps explain why the coronavirus can so greatly affect different parts of the body nearby, like the lining of our nasal cavity, which is crucial to our sense of smell, according to Ehre.

“A huge viral load is available to spread within an infected individual and infect the olfactory epithelium, explaining the common symptom of loss of smell, and also infect the salivary glands, which would explain the symptom of dry mouth,” she said. “The worst is when viruses go to the lungs and produce pneumonia that causes shortness of breath and ultimately can lead to death.”

These sorts of findings are important for filling in a piece of the scientific puzzle that is SARS-CoV-2 and covid-19. But for the average person, they might serve as more motivation to keep yourself and others as safe from infection as possible.

“These images of SARS-CoV-2 infected cultures showing ciliated cells jam-packed with viruses releasing large clumps of virus particles make a strong case for the use of masks by infected and uninfected individuals to limit SARS-CoV-2 transmission,” Ehre said.

Personally, the last thing I want is those dirty-looking cotton balls from hell doing the above to my lungs.

Dont the flu cause pneumonia as well?

 

[Leongsam]

Do all the infected have such lung issues? Perhaps these scientists should be finding out why most are asymptomatic and why some are long haulers n some dead n why some are more vulnerable than others instead of treating all with the same brush

It's the same with any disease. People die from the common cold too and I predict that Covid-19 will soon become no different from the cold virus because after all it part of the same family of coronaviruses.

If it was not for the scaremongering on social media this so called "pandemic" would have passed without too much fuss.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Does this mean that all the infected will get Parkinson's? All the more reason to deny treatment to critical cases n let them move on. The symptoms are worse than the disease.

Experts warn coronavirus may cause 'wave' of neurological conditions including Parkinson's disease
By national medical reporter Sophie Scott and the Specialist Reporting Team's Lucy Kent and Penny Timms

Posted 7 hours ago, updated4 hours ago
A doctor looks at six bright blue brain scans.
Brain imaging at the Florey Institute shows changes in patients with Parkinson's disease compared to healthy volunteers.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
COVID-19 can cause worrying neurological symptoms like a loss of smell and taste, but Australian scientists are warning the damage the virus causes to the brain may also lead to more serious conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

Key points:
Researchers are warning some well-known COVID-19 symptoms indicate there may be long-term neurological impacts of the disease
There is a fear a "silent wave" of Parkinson's disease will follow the COVID-19 pandemic, as it did after the Spanish flu in the early 20th century
Medical experts have designed a smell test to improve the early detection of Parkinson's disease and treatment options
It has happened before.

Five years after the Spanish flu pandemic in the early 1900s, there was up to a three-fold increase in the incidence of Parkinson's disease.

Kevin Barnham from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health said he believed a similar "silent wave" of neurological illness would follow this pandemic.

"Parkinson's disease is a complex illness, but one of the causes is inflammation, and the virus helps to drive that inflammation," he said.

"Once the inflammation gets into the brain, it starts a cascade of events which can ultimately lead to Parkinson's disease.

Researchers outlined their concerns in a study published today in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.

The process is known as the "two-hit hypothesis".

The brain gets inflamed from something like a virus, then something else comes along later causing more damage and eventually Parkinson's disease develops.

"Evidence is already suggesting the triggers for Parkinson's disease are there with this virus," Professor Barnham said.

Watch
How the COVID-19 virus may be linked to Parkinson's Disease
Medical experts said it was too early to know how many people who had COVID-19 would go on to develop the disease.

"I believe the risk is real," Professor Barnham said.

"We can't put a number on it, but with 30 million people worldwide affected by this virus, even a small shift in the risk of getting Parkinson's would lead to many more people being diagnosed.

"We know COVID-19 has short-term effects, but we are realising more about the potential long-term effects."

Head of the cognition ageing laboratory at the University of Adelaide, Lyndsey Collins-Praino, said it was not a certainty every person who had COVID-19 would develop Parkinson's disease.

She said researchers needed a better understanding of just how people with COVID-19 were likely to develop the disease in the future.

"We need to know what that may look like and how symptoms may change and evolve over time," Dr Collins-Praino said.

"We need to understand not just how to treat the virus itself, but to understand what challenges survivors may face, given how many people may find themselves in that camp."

Smell-test screening to pick up early signs of disease
In people with Parkinson's disease, problems such as a loss of smell can show up 10 years before they have any physical symptoms.

Researchers from the Florey Institute are working on a smell-test screening tool that could be rolled out to everyone over the age of 50.

It would measure your ability to smell properly and test the function of other parts of the brain, the results of which may signal early indications of Parkinson's disease.

The Florey Institute is working on a test that would measure any loss in someone's sense of smell.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Dr Collins-Praino said early diagnosis could lead to early intervention and stop brain cells from dying off.

"The earlier we can detect [the damage], the better our chances of really effective and meaningful therapeutics for individuals," she said.

Six million people worldwide have Parkinson's disease and the figure is expected to double in the next 20 years.

"Add to that the silent wave from COVID, and those numbers will explode and there will be serious societal and economic consequences from that," Professor Barnham said.

Florey Institute scientist and co-author of the paper released today, Leah Beauchamp, said there was an opportunity to get ready.

"We weren't prepared the last time — more than 100 years ago. We have the tools and we can get ahead of this now," she said.

Leah Beauchamp and Kevin Barnham are co-authors of the paper published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Parkinson's 'wasn't anything we had considered'
Getting an earlier diagnosis would have helped Melbourne woman Sheenagh Bottrell.

One of the first signs something was amiss was when her friend noticed she was limping while they were out on their regular walks.

"I had already had problems with my shoulder, but I really didn't worry about it very much," Ms Bottrell said.

"But my friend was constantly at me to go and see the doctor."

After seeing a neurologist, Ms Bottrell, 47, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.

"It was a shock. It wasn't anything we had considered," she said.

Sheenagh Bottrell, 47, says she has tried "to get on with life" after her Parkinson's disease diagnosis.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Ms Bottrell said if she had been diagnosed earlier, she might have done things differently.

"I am fortunate that I have mild symptoms, but for people who have tremors, earlier detection and getting onto good treatment early would be much better," she said.

Doctors advised Ms Bottrell not to let the illness take over her life and her thinking.

"I have tried to get on with life and not let it get in the way," she said.

The Florey Institute has applied to the Federal Government's Medical Research Future Fund for a grant to move to the next phase of testing the smell screening tool.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

I wonder wat is the percentage of these long haulers.?

Long Covid: 'My fatigue was like nothing I've experienced before'
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Jade Gray-Christie through the window
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Thousands of coronavirus patients, including many who were not ill enough to be hospitalised, have been suffering for months from fatigue and a range of other symptoms. While professionals struggle to support them, what can they learn from those living with chronic illnesses?

If you've been following the stories of people who have contracted coronavirus and are experiencing debilitating symptoms that won't go away, Jade Gray-Christie's story may sound familiar. Because her symptoms were considered "mild", she was not hospitalised, but her life has been turned upside down since falling ill in March.

Before the pandemic, Jade had been living an extremely busy life. The 32-year-old from Stoke Newington in London was balancing a fulfilling job supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, with an active social life, and going to the gym three times a week.

But in the early hours of the morning on 15 March, Jade came home from a long day at work, and knew something wasn't right.

"I felt horrendous. I was starting to feel really hot and cold and I just kept coughing and coughing and coughing," Jade told me, speaking softly, through laboured breaths.

As the days went by, Jade, who is asthmatic and lives alone, started to feel more and more unwell and scared.

She called 111. They sent an ambulance to her ground-floor flat, but the paramedics refused to come in.

"They spoke to me through the window and asked what was going on," she says.

Lying in bed and struggling to get the words out, Jade explained that she was finding it hard to breathe and had severe pains in her chest. She was told that she had the classic "Covid cough", but because of her age, they couldn't take her to the hospital. She was young, they said, and her body was strong enough to recover.

Jade was taken aback. "What do I do about my breathing? I'm asthmatic. I live by myself so if something happens I've got nobody to support me. What do I do?"

But she was told that they weren't taking anyone under the age of 70 in case she made someone else in the hospital ill.

"So I was kind of just left," Jade says. "I understood what they were saying, but at the same time I was really poorly and I didn't know what would happen. I was quite scared to go to sleep at night."

Jade started leaving her front door unlocked, asking her neighbours to check on her daily to make sure that nothing happened to her as she slept.

As time went by, she did seem to slowly improve. But every time she thought she was making a recovery, her symptoms returned.

In May, Jade felt well enough to start working part-time from home. She was still experiencing chest pains and some tiredness, but as someone who was used to a busy life, she felt she could manage.

Then, at the end of the month, something changed.

"My chest got really bad again. I was struggling to breathe and I wasn't able to get out of my bed," she says. "My fatigue was like nothing I've ever experienced before."

Image caption
Jade has been given two more inhalers for Covid symptoms as well as the one she needs for asthma
Months passed with little improvement. Sometimes she slept more than 16 hours per day, and struggled with the day-to-day activities needed to look after herself.

When I checked in on Jade at the end of July, she told me that her doctor said she had post-viral fatigue - but she hadn't been given any advice on how to manage her symptoms beyond being told to "pace" and have a routine for sleeping and waking.

Pacing is a skill that involves breaking challenging elements of your life into smaller, more manageable ones. The idea is to learn coping strategies to help improve quality of life and stabilise your health.

But Jade struggled to understand how to apply the idea of pacing to her life. Keeping to a routine felt almost impossible, as she often woke up exhausted and just fell back to sleep again.

"When I did speak with the doctor regarding my dizziness, the fact I have fainted, and also about my fatigue, he openly stated that he did not know how to support me and that the virus is still so new. This of course left me feeling even worse."

"If the doctors cannot help, then who else can?" she asked.

The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges that it does not yet fully understand Covid-19.

It says that typical recovery times are two weeks for patients with mild illness, and up to eight weeks for those with severe illness, but it recognises that there are people like Jade who continue to have symptoms for longer.

In such cases, the WHO says, symptoms may include extreme fatigue, persistent cough or exercise intolerance. The virus can cause inflammation in the lungs, cardiovascular and neurological systems, and it can take a long time for the body to recover.

Jade's experience has been echoed by tens of thousands of people across the country, and is now known as "Long Covid".

According to the Covid Symptom Study app, which tracks people's symptoms regardless of whether they had a test, about 300,000 people in the UK have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month, and 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months.

Barbara Melville is an admin of the Long Covid Support Group on Facebook, which was set up to provide a place for people to talk about their experiences and support each other. It now has over 21,000 members, who are living with a wide range of symptoms.

Interestingly, a lot of people in the group, like Jade, originally had a mild case of coronavirus, though one doctor described Barbara's as "moderately severe".

Many of them say they are not able to access the care and support they need, and she describes "two emerging narratives" when it comes to trying to find help.

Some struggle to be taken seriously at all, with people being told, especially early on, that their symptoms are caused by anxiety, she says.

Others have sympathetic GPs who will arrange blood tests and chest X-rays or CT scans for lung issues - but once those examinations have been carried out, they are not sure what specialist services to refer them to, or how to help them.

"I think most GPs are at an absolute loss, they don't know what to do for people," Barbara says. "It's about policy. Doctors don't have the guidelines yet to know what to do, so everybody is shooting in the dark."

During the early months of the pandemic, when there was even less help or recognition for people experiencing Long Covid symptoms, many patients and patient advocacy groups started doing their own research.

"You don't know if you're going to live or die, and Covid puts you on a merry-go-round of symptoms - one minute it's pain in kidneys, then stomach. For a lot of people, although not for me, there's also lung issues and shortness of breath," says Lorraine Pickering, a former teacher at a busy secondary school in Wiltshire, who developed symptoms in March and has since been diagnosed with Covid.

Looking for answers, she turned to the chronic illness community and realised that many of their symptoms overlapped. She found a huge amount of useful advice and support about how to cope with a long-term health condition - learning that with the right adjustments it was still possible to have a fulfilling life.

"If you've never been ill before, it takes a lot of emotional and physical resilience," she says.

She also noticed that early on in the pandemic, people living with chronic illness were already speculating about the potential long-term repercussions of coronavirus, and were concerned for this new influx of patients.

There was a palpable fear that some people wouldn't make a full recovery, and also that this would strain a system where many already struggle to get the care and support that they need.

"The chronic illness community is used to waiting 12 months to see a specialist or spending three hours in a clinic waiting for a 10-minute test, but this may well come as an unpleasant shock to previously healthy folks," says Jo Southall, an occupational therapist who specialises in supporting people with chronic illness.

"There were a whole lot of people on waiting lists for rehabilitative care before Covid-19 hit and the backlog has only got worse."

Lauren Walker, an adviser to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, adds that access to specialists has always been a "postcode lottery" and that it is a particular problem for disadvantaged groups. "It is a really inequitable system," she says.

In an attempt to help the growing number of people with long Covid symptoms, in July the NHS launched an online portal called YourCovidRecovery .

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it would "give people who have survived the virus on-demand access to online clinical support" for problems with breathing, mental health or other complications.

However, Barbara says the response from her support group has been mixed, with some pointing out that it simply duplicates advice about pacing and breathing exercises that is already available elsewhere online.

"Sufferers are looking for comprehensive support, such as time with specialist consultants. They don't need more of the same," she says. But, in many cases, these are the same specialists that there are already long waiting lists to see.

Jo Southall has a more positive view of the portal.

"Good quality generic advice is essential in the 'waiting' stages," she says.

She believes that the most important thing at the moment is to prevent people from getting worse, and one danger she sees is that people could be encouraged to exercise too hard - which could make them more unwell.

In July, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence cautioned against using graded exercise therapy for patients recovering from Coronavirus. (It also noted that its advice for managing chronic fatigue could be out of date for other groups of patients too. This advice is currently under review.)

"Sometimes no progress is progress," Jo says. "It's all too easy for health to spiral downwards with symptoms like fatigue, so when you're going it alone, a plateau should be seen as a win."

How to conserve energy
When dealing with fatigue, occupational therapists use something called the three P's: planning, pacing and prioritising
This involves identifying strategies to make things easier and manage energy more effectively
For example, if showering is exhausting, try it at a different time of day, or sit down instead of standing
Break activities up into smaller tasks and spread them throughout the day
Plan 30-40 minutes of rest breaks between activities
So, where does this leave patients? For many, it's still a waiting game.

As for Jade, her health is still up and down, but she is now getting physiotherapy and occupational therapy through the Covid clinic at University College Hospital in London.

Her employers have been very supportive, which has made a huge difference. When she had an occupational assessment, she was told that they had seen many similar cases.

"That was a huge relief, just to be believed," she says, having spent many months feeling as though she had to prove that what was happening to her was not "all in her head". She finally received a letter confirming her Covid diagnosis this week.

Jade is now planning to work from home for the rest of the year, with reduced hours and responsibilities, and has been advised to break up her day, working in two-hour stints with mini-breaks in between. She's glad to be able to get back to work and engage her brain.

Not all employers are as sympathetic, warns Barbara, with many stories being shared in her support group of people forced back to work too soon.

"They're scared that they're not going to be able to feed their families," she told me. "Rest and pacing are a privilege."

Others have told her they're facing discrimination at work because they are unable to provide evidence that they had the illness - even though testing wasn't made widely available for months - and are not being given the adjustments they need to work safely.

She is, however, hopeful that this crisis will lead to a culture change in the way people living with long-term health conditions are treated.

"What I'd like to see in five years' time is that someone with Long Covid symptoms, or any illness, can go to the doctor, get the support they need, for the doctor to feel supported, and that people feel able to talk about this with their employers and peers.

"Covid has really highlighted inequalities and there's an opportunity here to start doing something."

In one of our calls, Jade told me that after becoming ill she really felt like her life was over. It was only once she started getting support, care and understanding that things started to change for her. She now feels like she may be able to find a way to cope with her new normal.

Photography by Zoë Savitz

You may also be interested in:
Image copyright Monique Jackson
Monique Jackson believes she caught Covid-19 early in the pandemic and nearly six months later she's still unwell. One of thousands in this position, she has been keeping an illustrated diary about her symptoms and her vain attempts to get treatment.

 

[Leongsam]

Does this mean that all the infected will get Parkinson's? All the more reason to deny treatment to critical cases n let them move on. The symptoms are worse than the disease.

Experts warn coronavirus may cause 'wave' of neurological conditions including Parkinson's disease
By national medical reporter Sophie Scott and the Specialist Reporting Team's Lucy Kent and Penny Timms

Posted 7 hours ago, updated4 hours ago
A doctor looks at six bright blue brain scans.
Brain imaging at the Florey Institute shows changes in patients with Parkinson's disease compared to healthy volunteers.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
COVID-19 can cause worrying neurological symptoms like a loss of smell and taste, but Australian scientists are warning the damage the virus causes to the brain may also lead to more serious conditions such as Parkinson's disease.

Key points:
Researchers are warning some well-known COVID-19 symptoms indicate there may be long-term neurological impacts of the disease
There is a fear a "silent wave" of Parkinson's disease will follow the COVID-19 pandemic, as it did after the Spanish flu in the early 20th century
Medical experts have designed a smell test to improve the early detection of Parkinson's disease and treatment options
It has happened before.

Five years after the Spanish flu pandemic in the early 1900s, there was up to a three-fold increase in the incidence of Parkinson's disease.

Kevin Barnham from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health said he believed a similar "silent wave" of neurological illness would follow this pandemic.

"Parkinson's disease is a complex illness, but one of the causes is inflammation, and the virus helps to drive that inflammation," he said.

"Once the inflammation gets into the brain, it starts a cascade of events which can ultimately lead to Parkinson's disease.

Researchers outlined their concerns in a study published today in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.

The process is known as the "two-hit hypothesis".

The brain gets inflamed from something like a virus, then something else comes along later causing more damage and eventually Parkinson's disease develops.

"Evidence is already suggesting the triggers for Parkinson's disease are there with this virus," Professor Barnham said.

Watch
How the COVID-19 virus may be linked to Parkinson's Disease
Medical experts said it was too early to know how many people who had COVID-19 would go on to develop the disease.

"I believe the risk is real," Professor Barnham said.

"We can't put a number on it, but with 30 million people worldwide affected by this virus, even a small shift in the risk of getting Parkinson's would lead to many more people being diagnosed.

"We know COVID-19 has short-term effects, but we are realising more about the potential long-term effects."

Head of the cognition ageing laboratory at the University of Adelaide, Lyndsey Collins-Praino, said it was not a certainty every person who had COVID-19 would develop Parkinson's disease.

She said researchers needed a better understanding of just how people with COVID-19 were likely to develop the disease in the future.

"We need to know what that may look like and how symptoms may change and evolve over time," Dr Collins-Praino said.

"We need to understand not just how to treat the virus itself, but to understand what challenges survivors may face, given how many people may find themselves in that camp."

Smell-test screening to pick up early signs of disease
In people with Parkinson's disease, problems such as a loss of smell can show up 10 years before they have any physical symptoms.

Researchers from the Florey Institute are working on a smell-test screening tool that could be rolled out to everyone over the age of 50.

It would measure your ability to smell properly and test the function of other parts of the brain, the results of which may signal early indications of Parkinson's disease.

The Florey Institute is working on a test that would measure any loss in someone's sense of smell.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Dr Collins-Praino said early diagnosis could lead to early intervention and stop brain cells from dying off.

"The earlier we can detect [the damage], the better our chances of really effective and meaningful therapeutics for individuals," she said.

Six million people worldwide have Parkinson's disease and the figure is expected to double in the next 20 years.

"Add to that the silent wave from COVID, and those numbers will explode and there will be serious societal and economic consequences from that," Professor Barnham said.

Florey Institute scientist and co-author of the paper released today, Leah Beauchamp, said there was an opportunity to get ready.

"We weren't prepared the last time — more than 100 years ago. We have the tools and we can get ahead of this now," she said.

Leah Beauchamp and Kevin Barnham are co-authors of the paper published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Parkinson's 'wasn't anything we had considered'
Getting an earlier diagnosis would have helped Melbourne woman Sheenagh Bottrell.

One of the first signs something was amiss was when her friend noticed she was limping while they were out on their regular walks.

"I had already had problems with my shoulder, but I really didn't worry about it very much," Ms Bottrell said.

"But my friend was constantly at me to go and see the doctor."

After seeing a neurologist, Ms Bottrell, 47, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2011.

"It was a shock. It wasn't anything we had considered," she said.

Sheenagh Bottrell, 47, says she has tried "to get on with life" after her Parkinson's disease diagnosis.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Ms Bottrell said if she had been diagnosed earlier, she might have done things differently.

"I am fortunate that I have mild symptoms, but for people who have tremors, earlier detection and getting onto good treatment early would be much better," she said.

Doctors advised Ms Bottrell not to let the illness take over her life and her thinking.

"I have tried to get on with life and not let it get in the way," she said.

The Florey Institute has applied to the Federal Government's Medical Research Future Fund for a grant to move to the next phase of testing the smell screening tool.

This is nothing new. Influenza increases the risk too and more people catch influenza compared to Covid-19.

CDC estimates that in the US alone up to 45 million catch flu every year.

https://www.worldhealth.net/news/influenza-increases-risk-parkinsons-disease/

 

[Leongsam]

Posted on Jun 07, 2017, 6 a.m.


Recent study has provided further evidence supporting the idea that environmental factors, incluidng influenza may be involved in Parkinson's disease.




A new study has found the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease is higher in people who have been infected with the seasonal flu. Researchers suspect a particular strain of influenza is responsible for predisposing lab mice to develop disease processes that closely mimic Parkinson's Disease. There is no known cause for Parkinson's as researchers continue their efforts to find contributing factors that trigger the disease. The study was published in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease.

Viruses in Mice Create Parkinson's Symptoms

According to Professor Richard J. Smeyne, the study showed more evidence that influenza and environmental factors play a role in the development of Parkinson's Disease. Researchers demonstrated that when mice make a full recovery from the H1N1 influenza virus, they then become susceptible to chemicals that are known to activate Parkinson's (at least in the lab).

In previous studies, collaborators Dr. Smeyne and Dr. Stacey Schultz-Cherry showed that the deadly bird flu (H5N1) which has a 60% mortality rate, was able to create Parkinson's like symptoms in lab mice. The H5N1 virus travels to the brain via infection of nerve cells causing inflammation. If inflammation in the brain does not heal quickly as in this case or when a person suffers a trauma to the head, the result can lead to Parkinson's Disease.

Immune System Causes Inflammation

The new study builds on that work but uses the less lethal H1N1 virus (Swine Flu). The researchers showed that H1N1 makes the immune system release inflammatory chemicals called cytokines which cause inflammation in the brain. Using mice as models to test Parkinson's Disease, Dr. Smeyne used the toxin MPTP to induce symptoms of Parkinson's in two groups of mice.

The group that was infected with the H1N1 virus had more severe symptoms of Parkinson's then the other group of mice only exposed to the toxin. More importantly, the sensitivity to the toxin MPTP was eliminated when the mice were given H1N1 vaccinations or an antiviral medication like Tamiflu.

According to Dr. Smeyne, we are exposed to influenza on a yearly basis, and H1N1 belongs to a family of influenzas called "Type A". Although the testing has yet to go to clinical human trials, Smeyne believes their work justifies further investigation. Through seasonal flu vaccination or antiviral medications, we may become resilient to the toxic chemicals our immune systems will produce in response to H1N1 and other deadly viruses. This will allow us for a full recovery in less time without impacting our brain health in the long term.

Sadasivan, S., et al. Synergistic effects of influenza and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) can be eliminated by the use of influenza therapeutics: experimental evidence for multi-hit hypothesis. npj Parkinson's Disease, 2017 DOI: 10.1038/s41531-017-0019-z

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Posted on Jun 07, 2017, 6 a.m.


Recent study has provided further evidence supporting the idea that environmental factors, incluidng influenza may be involved in Parkinson's disease.




A new study has found the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease is higher in people who have been infected with the seasonal flu. Researchers suspect a particular strain of influenza is responsible for predisposing lab mice to develop disease processes that closely mimic Parkinson's Disease. There is no known cause for Parkinson's as researchers continue their efforts to find contributing factors that trigger the disease. The study was published in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease.

Viruses in Mice Create Parkinson's Symptoms

According to Professor Richard J. Smeyne, the study showed more evidence that influenza and environmental factors play a role in the development of Parkinson's Disease. Researchers demonstrated that when mice make a full recovery from the H1N1 influenza virus, they then become susceptible to chemicals that are known to activate Parkinson's (at least in the lab).

In previous studies, collaborators Dr. Smeyne and Dr. Stacey Schultz-Cherry showed that the deadly bird flu (H5N1) which has a 60% mortality rate, was able to create Parkinson's like symptoms in lab mice. The H5N1 virus travels to the brain via infection of nerve cells causing inflammation. If inflammation in the brain does not heal quickly as in this case or when a person suffers a trauma to the head, the result can lead to Parkinson's Disease.

Immune System Causes Inflammation

The new study builds on that work but uses the less lethal H1N1 virus (Swine Flu). The researchers showed that H1N1 makes the immune system release inflammatory chemicals called cytokines which cause inflammation in the brain. Using mice as models to test Parkinson's Disease, Dr. Smeyne used the toxin MPTP to induce symptoms of Parkinson's in two groups of mice.

The group that was infected with the H1N1 virus had more severe symptoms of Parkinson's then the other group of mice only exposed to the toxin. More importantly, the sensitivity to the toxin MPTP was eliminated when the mice were given H1N1 vaccinations or an antiviral medication like Tamiflu.

According to Dr. Smeyne, we are exposed to influenza on a yearly basis, and H1N1 belongs to a family of influenzas called "Type A". Although the testing has yet to go to clinical human trials, Smeyne believes their work justifies further investigation. Through seasonal flu vaccination or antiviral medications, we may become resilient to the toxic chemicals our immune systems will produce in response to H1N1 and other deadly viruses. This will allow us for a full recovery in less time without impacting our brain health in the long term.

Sadasivan, S., et al. Synergistic effects of influenza and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) can be eliminated by the use of influenza therapeutics: experimental evidence for multi-hit hypothesis. npj Parkinson's Disease, 2017 DOI: 10.1038/s41531-017-0019-z

Thanks for putting the record straight

 

[bonds]

K.N.N.

Nothing horryfying of the images.
Rooked like noodles or grass jelly or flench flies only.