Tag: Long Covid
-
The BMJ Corrects REGAIN Study’s Expansive Claims; Results Only Applicable to Post-Hospitalized Long Covid Patients
In February, The BMJ published a study called Clinical effectiveness of an online supervised group physical and mental health rehabilitation programme for adults with post-covid-19 condition (REGAIN study): multicentre randomised controlled trial.” (Post-Covid-19 Condition, or PCC, is one of many current definitions for Long Covid.)The study, led by a team from the University of Warwick,…
-
Some Things I Read This Week–Scathing “Effort Preference” Analysis; Kids with Long Covid; National Academies’ Long Covid Definition
An in-depth pushback on “effort preference” When the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s long-delayed “deep phenotyping” study of a handful of ME/CFS patients was released earlier this year, the focus on a weird construct called “effort preference” sucked up all the attention–in part because the paper placed it front and center, in part because no…
-
BBC Takes on Lightning Process and Highlights Perspectives of the So-Called “Anti-Recovery Activists”
For years, I have criticized the research purporting to prove that the Lightning Process, a three-day mind-body workshop that has claimed to be effective in curing ME/CFS and a host of other chronic illnesses. The largest study of the LP, conducted by the methodologically and ethical challenged Esther Crawley, a professor and pediatrician at the…
-
A Conversation with the Co-Founders of The Sick Times
Journalists Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis are the co-founders of The Sick Times, a non-profit that covers Long Covid and other chronic infection-related illnesses. They launched the site last November and have built up a solid following for their reporting, updates, and weekly newsletter. They recently received a $250,000 grant that will allow them to…
-
Interview with Co-Organizator of Next Week’s Unite To Fight Long Covid Conference
Marco Wetzel, a digital sales expert, is one of five German Long Covid patients who banded together earlier this year with an ambitious plan to produce a major online conference called UniteToFight. Although they faced some initial skepticism, they quickly rounded up some high-profile names as speakers for the free event, including Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist…
-
Guardian Columnist George Monbiot Discusses His Scathing Rebuke of the Biopsychosocial Brigades–Text Version
Last week, I spoke with George Monbiot, a British investigative reporter and political activist, who has been a columnist for The Guardian for almost 30 years. He and I have been in occasional communication in recent years over an issue of mutual interest—the scandalous mistreatment of patients suffering from the devastating illness (or cluster of illnesses) known as…
-
Guardian Columnist George Monbiot Discusses His Scathing Critique of the “Biopsychosocial” Approach to ME/CFS and Long Covid
Earlier today I spoke with George Monbiot, a British investigative reporter and political activist, who has been a columnist for The Guardian for almost 30 years. He and I have been in occasional communication in recent years over an issue of mutual interest—the scandalous mistreatment of patients suffering from the devastating illness (or cluster of…
-
Senator Bernie Sanders’ $10 Billion Long Covid “Moonshot” Proposal
On April 9th, Senator Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who votes with the Democrats, unveiled an ambitious $10 billion “moonshot” proposal to fund research into Long Covid. The proposal has raised hopes among patients with the disease or cluster of diseases now being called ME/CFS—as well as concerns that those who came down…
-
REGAIN Team Responds to Criticism with Unconvincing Defenses of Methodological Missteps
In recent weeks, I have been urging The BMJ to correct a flawed University of Warwick trial of an online mental and physical health rehab program for people with prolonged symptoms at least three months after hospitalization for Covid-19. The primary outcome was health-related quality of life, assessed with a measure called the PROPr score.…
-
A New Study from Exeter on “Brain Training” for Treatment of Post-Covid Cognitive Problems
The University of Exeter is now recruiting for a study of “brain training” as a treatment for prolonged cognitive dysfunction after a bout of Covid-19. I found out about this via a post on X. The post highlighted a message that had been sent to an unidentified patient from their medical providers: “Are you experiencing…
-
Another Letter Seeking Correction of Bogus “Clinically Effective” Claims from REGAIN Trial
Last month, I sent a letter to Dr Abbasi, the editor-in-chief of The BMJ, about an egregious and arguably fraudulent claim in the REGAIN trial—an investigation of a Long Covid physical and mental health rehabilitation program. Several other experts co-signed the letter. The journal asked us to send in a rapid response. We declined, on…
-
My Letter to Scientific Reports about New Study of Physical Activity and Long Covid
The other day I posted a blog about yet another problematic Long Covid study published by a major journal. The study concluded that physical activity (PA) can “reduce” symptoms in young women with prolonged medical complaints after Covid-19, or what the authors call post-COVID condition (PCC). The problem: the study design is capable of documenting…