#Longcovid is a multifaceted disease; it can affect multiple organ systems including respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, mental health, metabolic, gastrointestinal, kidneys, and other organ systems.
People with #longcovid have increased risk of incident use of several therapeutics including pain medications (opioids and non-opioids), antidepressants, anxiolytics, antihypertensives, and oral antihyperglycemics and evidence of laboratory abnormalities in multiple organ systems
#Longcovid is evident even in those who had mild acute disease which did not require hospitalization during the acute phase of the infection
Burden of #longCOVID increases substantially in those who required hospitalization, and is most pronounced in those who needed ICU care during the acute phase of the infection
When comparing the post-acute sequelea of COVID vs flu, COVID exhibited remarkably higher burden of post-acute sequalae. Both the magnitude of risk AND extent of organ system involvement were much higher than post-acute flu manifestations.
People with #longcovid need multidisciplinary care.
If there ever was an exemplar in clinical medicine that best illustrates the importance of integrated multidisciplinary care, it is #longcovid. Health systems should quickly adapt to this reality.
I can’t believe that I have to say this, but yes, #longcovid is real. People with long covid should be listened to, and their experiences must be honored.
What happens to the heart when people stop GLP-1 drugs?
The short answer: nothing good.
New from our team: a study of 330,000+ people in @BMJMedicine
🧵
About 1 in 8 U.S. adults has taken a GLP-1 drug. But 36–81% of users stop within the first year. Most studies have focused on weight regain after stopping. We focused on what happens to the heart.
We followed 333,000+ adults with type 2 diabetes for 3 years, emulating a randomized trial across 16 treatment scenarios with different durations of use, discontinuation, and interruption.
📢NEW: In a study of 600,000 people published today in @bmj_latest, we found GLP-1 drugs (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro) associated with reduced risk of addiction across alcohol, opioids, cocaine, cannabis, nicotine—and 50% fewer substance-related deaths.
🧵 bmj.com/content/392/bm…
We used VA data—one of the largest healthcare systems in the world—to emulate 8 randomized trials.
600,000 people. 3 years of follow-up. Over 1.5 million person-years.
Two questions: Do GLP-1 drugs prevent addiction? And do they reduce harm in people already struggling with it?
Among people with no prior addiction, GLP-1 drugs were associated with lower risk of addiction across substances:
▸ Opioids: 25%
▸ Cocaine: 20%
▸ Nicotine: 20%
▸ Alcohol: 18%
▸ Cannabis: 14%
Consistent across every substance we tested.
Our new study in @naturemedicine comprehensively maps all the benefits and risks of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound).
We saw that GLP1 use has substantially increased, and reports emerged about some off-target effects. But we realized that no one had comprehensively investigated effectiveness & risks of GLP-1 across all possible health outcomes nature.com/articles/s4159…
3. So, we decided to do the comprehensive study!
We did a discovery analysis which comprehensively examined 175 possible health outcomes (leaving no stone unturned) in 215,970 people on GLP1 and more than 2 million individuals not on GLP1
🚨 Long COVID is a significant health crisis in China too!
My commentary on the largest Chinese study to date, involving 74,075 participants, which found that 10-30% of them reported long COVID symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog #LongCovid