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Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

thetimes.co.uk

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Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#131

Post by nuerow »

noduerme wrote: post #103
nuerow wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Oh he's got the "authority thing sorted out" eh? Yes, he's no rando posting stuff on his Facebook page, nor is he a rapper or media personality. He's an expert from a reputable university that made solid contributions to the fight against COVID-19 , and he is quoting data from the Office for National Statistics. In the very least we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Even though it's true that appeals to aut…

It wasn't a personal attack. I don't know the guy from Adam. It was a response to someone writing that the authority thing was "sorted out."

> It wasn't a personal attack.

Either way, spinning the debate to try to focus it on the messenger instead of the message is not a productive or honest way to debate a subject. We should try our best to keep the signal/noise ratio up, specially in topics so prone to disinformation.

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#132

Post by postingawayonhn »

q1w2 wrote: post #117
heurisko wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coronavirus's risk to children is low. It's not true that there are no mitigations for Covid: children in the UK are being vaccinated against Covid, as often happens against winter flu. Measures to protect adults against coronavirus have not come for free for children. Mental health referrals amongst children have doubled since before the pandemic [1]. In more unintended consequences, smoking amongst young people has…

No masks in schools - no distancing. They are not even doing the basics.

Do you really think it's possible to make kids socially distance? And surely the social effects of that will be much worse than any possible positive benefit for the children?

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#133

Post by tim333 »

noduerme wrote: post #28
gambiting wrote: post #9

Not had covid, but about 2 years ago had a Parvovirus-B19 infection which triggered a reactive arthritis, which means 2 years later I'm still having steroid injections and my joints are more or less in pain. The medical summary is basically "sucks to be you I guess" but it's a semi-common side effect of a virus infection. So yeah, all I want to say is that virus infections are not a joke, even if you got through one…

And some viruses are worse than others. Some will hide out in your spinal cord forever and make an appearance when you're under stress. If you've ever had to watch someone go through an outbreak of shingles... holy crap that looks miserable. I had Mono when I was 15 and still get what I take to be occasional, minor resurgences of that level of total body-wide exhaustion, every five years or so for a couple days. A fr…

And some can enter your DNA sixty million years ago and then come back and help cause schizophrenia. (https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/the-insanity-virus)

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#134

Post by [deleted] »

antiSingularity wrote: post #111
noduerme wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If there was a vaccine for cancer, it wouldn't matter to anyone else if you got it. This is a virus. It's a public sacrifice. As brutal as it sounds, you and I and everyone we know had to line up against a wall, and some people were going to take a bullet for the team. I went in prepared to do that, rather than deluding myself that the virus wasn't real or that it was avoidable. When my uncles were in the Navy, they…

And how exactly does me getting vaccinated protect someone else? I understand that you will probably be outraged by me even asking this question, but I am for real. The official messaging here in the UK has recently removed the vague suggestion that being vaccinated protects others. If you bring out the usual line that "being vaccinated stops you having such bad symptoms and thus passing it on to others", then surely…

[deleted]

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#135

Post by nuerow »

celticninja wrote: post #129
nuerow wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I question his impartiality on making statements such as this. There is a very good way to verify the claims: check the data. Dragging in questions regarding antibody test policies, stock portfolios, and potential conflicts of interest just sound like cheap character assassination attempts that have absolutely no relation with the prevalence of long Covid.

He doesn't present the data, he asks us to take his word for it, or the article does at least. Therefore to decide whether I can accept his word I need to know about him and his character. From initial research into him there are some queries about his behaviour, raised by an organisation that I do trust, therefore I do not accept his claim without question. Don't accept things blindly because you agree with them (or…

> He doesn't present the data (...)

If that's what you're going with then you only need to verify the data to either refute or verify his claim.

Everything else is just noise at this point.

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#136

Post by Qub3d »

shoto_io wrote: post #89
noduerme wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a guy who played very loud music for many years, I can relate. Until you said this I was sitting here in silence out in the country listening to frogs and now all I hear is that high whine. I think like a lot of other shit I just learn to tune it out.

This is so crazy. Now that I have read your comment I can clearly hear a high pitch sound which won't stop.

I have it (played percussion as a kid). I find just relaxing and acknowledging the ringing as if I was meditating, not fighting it and letting it do what it will helps it pass. It will sort of grow really loud like a wave, then as I continue relaxing will fade.

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#137

Post by celticninja »

nuerow wrote: post #135
celticninja wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He doesn't present the data, he asks us to take his word for it, or the article does at least. Therefore to decide whether I can accept his word I need to know about him and his character. From initial research into him there are some queries about his behaviour, raised by an organisation that I do trust, therefore I do not accept his claim without question. Don't accept things blindly because you agree with them (or…

> He doesn't present the data (...) If that's what you're going with then you only need to verify the data to either refute or verify his claim. Everything else is just noise at this point.

How do I verify it when I don't have it and he doesn't provide it?

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#138

Post by Pokepokalypse »

nuerow wrote: post #36
noduerme wrote: post #24

Some guy says it's overblown and this is ranking on HN? Personally, I know several people who are not normally complainers or full of shit who have had some wild effects for 9-12 months after a bout of covid, including visual disturbances, extreme exhaustion, and loss of focus or mental acuity. I really don't doubt my friends who've suffered this. They're not the kind of folks who think they have made-up diseases or…

> Some guy says it's overblown and this is ranking on HN? The guy quoted for said statement is a professor of medicine of a reputable university, so he does have the authority thing sorted out. Also, I feel the quote means something different than the original interpretation. After reading the article, it seems that John Bell simply states that a) long Covid is "more complicated than people assume", and b) it's incid…

>"half of people suffering from long Covid may not have it."

That's a completely baseless statement, and there is some serious fuckery going on here, either with the article, or the supposed expert they're citing.

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#139

Post by Pokepokalypse »

CryptoPunk wrote: post #40
noduerme wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you (God forbid) have covid symptoms, you'll differentiate.

That's not a scientific answer. Physical symptoms of stress include: Low energy Headaches Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea Aches, pains, and tense muscles Chest pain and rapid heartbeat Insomnia Frequent colds and infections Loss of sexual desire and/or ability Nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear, cold or sweaty hands and feet Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing Clenched jaw and gri…

All of those statements about stress are complete unscientific garbage, until someone comes up with a test, which can show some kind of chemical or biological marker that indicates what stress actually is, rather than some vague squishy thing that some people have and others don't.

Also: what if the stress symptoms they're feeling, are due to the body fighting long-covid?

Re: Long Covid is overblown and often something else, says Oxford professor

#140

Post by Pokepokalypse »

CryptoPunk wrote: post #55
noduerme wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had all those symptoms during lockdown and I know I haven't had covid. My friends who have had it describe a much, much worse experience. I suppose stress alone can cause visual hallucinations on the order of the road twisting in front of your car, but I know these people and trust their judgment that they have experienced the after effects of a brain-damaging infection.

You cannot rely on anecdotes. I know people who claim that many of their relatives suffered severe adverse effects after taking the vaccine. We do not draw scientific conclusions from anecdotes.

you cannot rely on anecdotes.

But: pretty much every single anecdote I've heard (online, or meatspace) tells a very consistent story. Maybe it should be studied. But I guess if some professor at a "prestigious university" says it's all psychosomatic, then I guess not.

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