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Winston Blick

27 Apr, 10 tweets, 9 min read

@itsbodypolitic

Some highlights from the recent Nancy Klimas webinar hosted by @itsbodypolitic on #LongCOVID #MECFS (moderated by the wonderful @AlisonSbrana)

➕ For some intervention ideas from Dr. Klimas see this excellent thread by @Be_Kinderr:

https://twitter.com/be_kinderr/status/1382102000159055873?s=21

It has been a great disappointment to some psychiatrists that post-viral #MECFS hasn’t turned out to be psychiatric. This hasn’t stopped them from attempting to stake their claim over #LongCovid (or ME/CFS for that matter) to the detriment of biomedical research & patient care.

Psychological/psychiatric indicators don’t predict who develops post-viral #MECFS; immune response does.

With #LongCovid we’re not starting from scratch. We have 30 years of research on post-viral #MECFS to build on.

Some studies are already looking for commonalities between #LongCovid and #MECFS which could point the way toward interventions that treat both.

@NIH

Yet there are concerning signs #MECFS will be left out of forthcoming #LongCovid studies — would be a major missed opportunity for science & millions w/ chronic post-viral illness.

🚨Open Letter to the @NIH: wearebodypolitic.com/bodytype/2021/… by @itsbodypolitic @Fionawenstein @AngelainLA

So what do we know about #MECFS & how might it apply to #LongCovid?

👉 Inflammation in brain & body driven by immune activation

👉 Cycle of oxidative stress driving inflammation

👉 Neuroendocrine imbalance

Don’t miss these 10 mins starting at 25m30s:

Dr. Klimas has long researched & treated Gulf War Illness (#GWI) with similar presentation to #MECFS. Remarkably, with supercomputer & animal modeling they have developed an intervention that appears to cure GWI in mice.

Their intervention involves suppressing neuro-inflammation and then reseting the neuroendocrine HPA axis to break out of the stable sickness state and simultaneously restore multiple systems to homeostasis. Dr. Klimas intends to develop something similar for #MECFS.

Cause for hope: the #GWI intervention is already being tested in humans and a phase 1 study is about to commence for #MECFS! Next up… #LongCovid? Dr. Klimas is seeking additional funding to continue this important work.

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More from @winstoncb

Winston Blick

@winstoncb

29 Apr

@NIH

Body Politic has published an important open letter to the @NIH @NIHDirector urging the prioritization of #LongCOVID research that builds off prior research into #MECFS and related conditions.

👉 wearebodypolitic.com/bodytype/2021/… by @itsbodypolitic @fi_lowenstein @ItsAngInLA

@NIH

In December, Congress provided $1.15 billion over 4 years for @NIH to “support research into the prolonged health consequences of #COVID19”. With many newcomers to the field there’s cause for concern that experienced #MECFS researchers may be overlooked. nih.gov/about-nih/who-…

#LongCovid and #MECFS have much in common and are increasingly joining forces to drive change that might lead to diagnostics, treatments, and a cure.

Read 10 tweets

Winston Blick

@winstoncb

11 Apr

@MEActNet

1/ At a recent @MEActNet briefing, Dr. Anthony Komaroff confirmed his earlier prediction that we had reason to expect some w/ COVID-19 would develop a debilitating chronic fatigue syndrome w/ symptoms similar to post-viral #MECFS (focusing on #LongCovid cases w/o organ damage).

2/ Komaroff alluded to abnormalities found in the brain in #MECFS, referencing theory of chronic low-grade activation of immune system in the brain — requires validation. Called for #LongCovid studies to build off past ME/CFS findings, plus research including both patient groups.