Trail of bubbles leads scientists to new coronavirus clue

[SheltieLover]

https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2020/08/19/trail-bubbles-leads-scientists-new-coronavirus-clue/

(AP) - A doctor checking comatose COVID-19 patients for signs of a stroke instead stumbled onto a new clue about how the virus may harm the lungs -- thanks to a test that used tiny air bubbles and a robot.

Dr. Alexandra Reynolds, a neurologist at New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, initially was baffled as she tracked “the cacophony of sound” made by those harmless bubbles passing through the bloodstream of patient after patient.

Yet the weird finding excited lung specialists who now are studying if it helps explain why often, the sickest coronavirus patients don't get enough oxygen despite being on ventilators.

The tale illustrates how months into the pandemic, scientists still are struggling to unravel the myriad ways the coronavirus attacks -- and finding hints in surprising places.

More at link.

[secondwind]

1. Kicked for visibility

[SheltieLover]

2. Thx!

Bubble trouble. Problematic for cars & other machines, now people.

[Lucinda]

3. KNR

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Another K&R!

The more we know about CV, the better.

[denem]

5. "abnormally dilated lung capillaries, not a heart problem, were letting the bubbles sneak through"

This is being suggested as a possible explanation of why smokers and people with asthma, have less, rather than more COVID mortality.

(A badly constructed sentence, but I am tired_

[LisaL]

6. The idea that smokers do better when infected by covid is a myth.

"In a meta-analysis of studies that included 11,590 COVID patients, researchers found that among people with the virus, the risk of disease progression in those who currently smoke or previously smoked was nearly double that of non-smokers. They also found that when the disease worsens, current or former smokers had more acute or critical conditions or death. Overall, smoking was associated with almost a doubling of the risk of disease progressing."

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/05/417411/smoking-nearly-doubles-rate-covid-19-progression

[denem]

10. I think I prefer WHO to

a study by the Director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

There is no evidence to quantify the risk to smokers of hospitalization with COVID-19 or of infection by SARS-CoV-2 was found in the peer-reviewed literature

https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/smoking-and-covid-19

The observation that smokers are under-represented amongst hospitalized COVID patients is unexplained.

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has expanded from Wuhan throughout China and is being exported to a growing number of countries worldwide. Despite the fact that the main complications of COVID-19 affect the lung, the prevalence of current smokers among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has been reported consistently lower than the prevalence of smokers among the general population for that specific geographical area (1), even if one might have anticipated the opposite. Thus, the epidemiological data seem to question the role of coexisting active smoking as a risk factor for COVID-19 pneumonia.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7397788/EDIT: I am not a smoker.

The CDC's August 14 advice -

People of any age with the following conditions are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19:

Cancer
Chronic kidney disease
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher)
Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
Sickle cell disease
Type 2 diabetes mellitus

COVID-19 is a new disease. Currently, there are limited data and information about the impact of underlying medical conditions and whether they increase the risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Based on what we know at this time, people with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19:

Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
Cystic fibrosis
Hypertension or high blood pressure
Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
Liver disease
Pregnancy
Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
Smoking
Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
Type 1 diabetes mellitus

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html

[LisaL]

18. CDC august advice says people who smoke might be at increased risk for severe illness.

That's in the link you provided. So I am very confused by what you are even arguing here. If you are not happy with might be, cdc sure as hell doesn't say smokers might do better.

[LisaL]

19. And if you believe WHO (and frankly this organization has made some contradictory statements

about COVID), here what they say about smoking.
"Smoking any kind of tobacco reduces lung capacity and increases the risk of many respiratory infections and can increase the severity of respiratory diseases. COVID-19 is an infectious disease that primarily attacks the lungs. Smoking impairs lung function making it harder for the body to fight off coronaviruses and other respiratory diseases. Available research suggests that smokers are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 outcomes and death."
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-on-smoking-and-covid-19#

[LisaL]

20. Oh, and by the way, it's kind of dishonest to omit the first sentence from the paragraph you are

quoting that contradicts what you are claiming. What, do you think people are not able to click on links?

"At the time of this review, the available evidence suggests that smoking is associated with increased severity of disease and death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Although likely related to severity, there is no evidence to quantify the risk to smokers of hospitalization with COVID-19 or of infection by SARS-CoV-2 was found in the peer-reviewed literature. Population-based studies are needed to address these questions."
https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/smoking-and-covid-19

[denem]

21. There are two questions here.

1. The incidence of smokers and as asthmatics being admitted to hospital with COVID

2. The progression of the disease once admitted

These are not the same question. The fact remains that smokers and asthmatics are significantly underrepresented amongst hospital admissions compared with the general population. This is the opposite of what would be expected, hence the interest - including mine

At the outset COVID-19 was judged to be a respiratory disease. The more we learn., the less that fits.

I am not a smoker, but I find it fascinating.

[bronxiteforever]

7. Kick and recommend for visibility

[Initech]

8. I have a friend / coworker who suffered a stroke at the beginning of this thing.

The doctors said that it wasn't COVID related but now I am wondering if very well could have been. He's currently fine right now and is expected to pull through, but most of us are wondering if was COVID.

[SheltieLover]

13. Lots of strokes from covid reported, due to blood clots!

One article I'd read quoted a brain surgeon who was removing a brain clot & saw new clots forming while he was operating.

Glad your friend is ok!!!

[Initech]

14. Yeah he's expected to fully recover.

But this is definitely some scary shit!

[SheltieLover]

16. Yes, it is! 😰

[Red Pest]

9. Very preliminary observations

"The findings are preliminary, not proof that dilated blood vessels are a problem." The article goes on: "He [Dr. Corey Kershaw of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center] cautioned that researchers need to definitively prove a heart defect isn’t playing a role."

My speculation: if dilated blood vessels are the problem, is it because the ACE-2 receptor displaying cells are dead or dying causing the dilation of the blood vessels?

[SheltieLover]

17. There have been other articles pounting to blood vessle/covid issues

I know I've posted a couple. I believe one was from STATNEWS. It was awhile ago and I no longer have the link, but I'm sure if you google it, you will find ample reading material.

Yes, but I believe the article also stated that it is very unlikely that each of the patients had a hole in their heart.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. We're not seeing stats on those who've recovered

Any agency tracking them, counting symptoms, severity, time periods? Or is it just grim news.

[SheltieLover]

15. Here is a bs headline

https://www.localmemphis.com/mobile/article/news/health/coronavirus/fourth-case-of-covid-19-coronavirus-confirmed-in-tennessee/51-631050e7-5c47-4ab2-b726-63baf66f31a2

137,800 cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee; 1,452 deaths and 99,085 recoveries

A rational mind asks: what does "recovery" mean?

Here is the answer in TN:

"Recovery has a specific definition. That definition, according to Shelby County health officials, is that patient remains healthy 21 days after diagnosis of COVID-19 and has completed all isolation requirements."

Shelby County is where Memphis is located.

So, how many people "remain healthy" 21 days after diagnosis? Remember Cuomo's ordeal? 😳

So they are lying in headlines, by virtue of the definition.

And every day, their covid update reads this way, with different numbers.

[jaxexpat]

12. Bubbles, air. Who knew?