7th June 2021.
COVID 19 is primarily a disease of the lungs but it can affect other organs as well. After recovery from the acute illness and “testing negative”, unfortunately some people continue to have significant symptoms. This group of people are called COVID “long haulers”. A recent study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism found that obesity is a significant risk factor for becoming a COVID long hauler after recovery from the acute illness.
28th May 2021.
According to a recently published article in the British Medical Journal, a spontaneous pneumothorax (punctured lung) is very common in COVID affected lungs. The underlying mechanisms are thought to be due to the fibrosis and scarring caused by COVID 19 which weakens the lung surface and the higher use of oxygen often under pressure during the acute phase of the illness.
21st May 2021.
COVID 19 is primarily a lung disease and damage to their lungs can be extensive in severe COVID 19. With recent advances in medicine many of these patients improve and can successfully be discharged from hospital. According to a recent study published in the Lancet, unfortunately, over 33% of them had residual effects in the lung at one year followup.
14th May 2021.
Delivery of nebulized drugs particularly against fungal infections in the lung like pulmonary aspergillosis could be significantly enhanced when they are mounted on nano particles according to new research published in the Journal of Nanobiotechnology.
21st April 2021.
ARDS is a common occurrence in patients with severe COVID 19 pneumonia and hypoxaemia. All patients with ARDS from COVID 19 pneumonia do not have the same prognosis according to recent research published by the Lancet group of journals. According to the authors the prognosis is much poorer in patients with ARDS who have elevated markers of inflammation and coagulopathy compared with patients in whom these markers are not elevated. Every patient with COVID 19 ARDS does not behave the same way.
7th April 2021.
According to a recent paper published in the journal Thorax, significantly fewer patients with Asthma, Influenza and other chronic lung diseases sought medical help during the pandemic possibly because of the protective effect of face masks.
28th March 2021.
A few unfortunate individuals will continue to have COVID 19 related complications long after they have recovered from the acute illness and have tested negative. A recently published review in Nature Medicine looks at the COVID long haulers in detail.
14th March 2021.
Patients with severe COVID 19 who have a high CT severity score are very likely to have neurological manifestations apart from lung involvement according to new research published by in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. A high CT severity score is a surrogate marker for neurological involvement according to the authors of the paper.
7th March 2021.
An in depth analysis of the mechanisms by which smokers become particularly prone to COVID 19 has been recently published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
21st January 2021.
People with breast cancer who also smoke are very likely to have metastases in the lungs compared to other sites according to new research recently published in the journal Nature Communications. The study explains the mechanisms involved based on the distribution of macrophages in the metastatic deposits.