Doctors Scramble To Understand Long COVID, but Causes and Prognosis Are Elusive

Michelle Andrews and Lydia Zuraw

Newspaper Article

Yes

One night in March 2020, Joy Wu felt like her heart was going to explode. She tried to get up and fell down. She didn’t recognize friends’ names in her list of phone contacts. Remembering how to dial 9-1-1 took “quite a bit of time,” she recalled recently. Wu, 38, didn’t have a fever, cough or sore throat — the symptoms most associated with covid-19 at the time — so doctors at the hospital told her she was having a panic attack. But later she developed those symptoms, along with difficulty breathing, fatigue and neurological issues. Wu, of San Carlos, California, believes she had covid — although, like many others who were unable to get tested early in the pandemic, she never got an official diagnosis. And, she said, its aftereffects continue to plague her. Wu has struggled to get help from doctors, even those who take her symptoms seriously. “There’s no actual treatment,” she said, for people experiencing these lasting symptoms, often referred to as long covid. When seeking help, “you’re basically a guinea pig at this point.”

What comes after covid-19? Preparing for post-intensive care syndrome

Guest writers, US healthcare

Newspaper Article

Yes

Patients will survive coronavirus—but that survival will likely come at a cost for some. Research on similar populations suggests that at least 50% of people who survive admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) can be left with what researchers now call “post-intensive care syndrome,” a constellation of emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms that limit their functioning. Survivors of critical illness can often return to the world with memory problems and difficulty planning and processing that is similar to those with moderate traumatic brain injury or mild dementia. Other survivors experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), at an incidence ranging from 10% to 50%. Their caregivers, too, will often experience a cluster of adverse outcomes, including anxiety, PTSD, and depression.

A multifaceted feedback strategy alone does not improve the adherence to organizational guideline-based standards: a cluster randomized trial in intensive care

Maartje L. G. de Vos, Sabine N. van der Veer, Bram Wouterse, Wilco C. Graafmans, Niels Peek, Nicolette F. de Keizer, Kitty J. Jager, Gert P. Westert and Peter H. J. van der Voort

Medical Journal

No

Organizational data such as bed occupancy rate and nurse-to-patient ratio are related to clinical outcomes and to the efficient use of intensive care unit (ICU) resources. Standards for these performance indicators are provided in guidelines. We studied the effects of a multifaceted feedback strategy to improve the adherence to these standards.

Prevent Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) during COVID-19

Linda Bell, MSN, RN

Magazine Article

Yes

In the early days of caring for critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis or multiple organ failure, we were grateful when they survived their illness. We used any interventions we could think of to increase the likelihood of survival. We didn’t really think about what came after patients’ intensive care unit (ICU) experience; we were just happy they survived. However, we came to find out that despite our best efforts, these patients had a high risk of developing delirium and post-discharge sequelae.

Diabetes Update: Post Intensive Care Syndrome after COVID-19

Switify

Magazine Article

Yes

The article discusses post-intensive care syndrome and its relation to diabetes. As the pandemic continues to spread across the world, there has been a phenomenal increase in hospitalizations, admission to hospital intensive care units (ICUs) and fatalities. During these times people with diabetes are at the risk of developing severe symptoms and complications of COVID-19 According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) both type 1 and type 2 diabetics are at a higher risk. It’s even riskier if your blood glucose levels are frequently high or if you’ve developed diabetes-related problems like heart or kidney disease. Being at higher risk for severe COVID-19, protection from exposure to the virus is important. In case you get sick, you should have enough critical supplies since leaving the house is not an option. It is also important that you know the situation at hand in case you require hospitalization.

Facing Post-Intensive Care Syndrome and After-Effects of Covid-19

Nancy Maes

Newspaper Article

Yes

Of all his years, 2020 was exceptionally challenging for Vietnam veteran Matthew Thomas. After the 75-year-old Aurora resident tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-May, doctors had to intubate him for 33 days so he didn’t go into respiratory failure. While Thomas survived, his 33-year-old son, diagnosed with Covid-19 shortly before his father was hospitalized, passed away. Thomas also faced widespread effects from Covid-19, stemming from the time spent intubated and in intensive care. “The byproduct of the disease is that my muscles went to sleep,” says Thomas, who says his muscles became so weak that he could not use his arms and legs. “I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even stand up,” he says.

Patients at high risk for psychiatric symptoms after a stay in the intensive care unit

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Newspaper Article

No

John Hopkins Medicine: Results of a multi-institutional national study of nearly 700 people who survived life-threatening illness with a stay in an intensive care unit suggest that a substantial majority of them are at high risk for persistent depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder -- especially if they are female, young and unemployed.

Gloucestershire man describes nightmare of waking up from a coma after coming close to death

Janet Hughes

Newspaper Article

Yes

Drew Patten, who was in the same intensive care unit as Derek Draper tells of the twilight world between life and death where he was convinced doctors were trying to kill him