“it can be hard not to marvel at certain empirical blind spots that ought not have been there by the middle of the twentieth century.” Yah. Jaw dropping to glimpse the mirror mid century researchers held up to themselves when writing about women patients .

The idea that getting surviving a disease is proof of strength and fitness has deep and largely disgusting roots in American history (see Olivarius’ book). In this case, they are drawing the lOgIcAl conclusion that needless exposure to disease is therefore a valuable test of strength…

People distrust healthcare, and often it's not the medicine itself. It's because of exceptionally negative experiences with medical "professionals." I'm a white male. And even I have experienced doctors treating me like total garbage. Makes me scared of how marginalized people are treated.

”Long COVID is sometimes described as an anything-goes sequela. This study shows the opposite. A consistent, reproducible biological signature across independent cohorts.“ (from the Zdenek tweet thread on the nature paper)

In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, Dr. Homer Venters joins us to discuss his latest work, Outbreak Behind Bars: Spider Bites, Human Rights, and the Unseen Danger to Public Health. Dr. Venters has extensive firsthand knowledge of the barriers in care - and he has evidence-based solutions.

A few charts we created for this analysis.

Had an exchange not so long ago here on when neuroplasticity approach appropriate. The cause of illness accurately recognised (e.g. a discrete lesion) and not as a cure for impairment but to improve quality of life, post CNS injury for example. Misapplications harm reputation.

2) The authors started with data in the UK Biobank. They looked for cases with MS, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and atopic dermatitis using their ICD-10 health records. Next, they used the genetic data of these participants to screen for disease–causing mutations.

We're beginning to see how disease shaped (pre)history. www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

(kindly share) I'm selling photos to raise money private medical help for a severe - quite lifeshortening - immune damaging disease I have, #MECFS, outside the coverage of public health. There are some good nature photos in any event ;) More info here: payhip.com/MiskaKnapek/...

@cgatist.bsky.social @decodemestudy.bsky.social @openmedf.bsky.social

Last ep, we took you through all the ways that cold can harm us. Ending the story there would be skipping over the parts where cold is the hero, rather than the villain. In the second of this frosty miniseries, we explore situations in which we might use cold to protect us and how it actually works.

A very important point! When my cognitive stuff started making long form reading intermittently impossible, I adopted a variety of tools to still engage w/ my craft: audiobooks, graphic novels, short fiction, film adaptations of books & plays, the mix has & hones the tools of writing really well 1/2

A report from @aarp.org and the National Alliance for Caregiving shows that more than 63 million Americans are serving as family caregivers — and they’re managing financial risks, poor health and isolation.

TW: New Sunday Times investigation hundreds of parents, falsely accused of Fabricated or Induced Illness when seeking care for their children - abuse allegations, risk losing access, and waiting months to be cleared— some children worsened and even died. archive.ph/2025.07.19-1...

New website in the UK ME Genetics Centre of Excellence megenetics.org.uk Hopefully this group will get enough funding from somewhere to continue their work following the publication of the DecodeME research soon #MEcfs #CFS

Is there a medically acknowledged paradigm where an inborn error of metabolism in a previously normal adult/teenager can be triggered by unremarkable infection into a terminal illness? Note, not a prion disease.

The book is called The Creatures' Guide to Caring, and it'll be out sometime in early 2026. You can get updates by following me here or subscribing to my newsletter: elizabethgpreston.substack.com Thanks!

👋 hello from New Zealand Is there any way to preorder the audiobook here? All retailers say not available in your country.