Sunday, October 4, 2020

"How COVID-19 can Damage the Brain" -Review by Eric Fleisig

 Eric Fleisig

10/4/20

Ap Bio

Current Events 2



Citation: 


Marshall, Michael. “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 15 Sept. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5. 


www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5


https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/



For this week's current event I read the article “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brian.” by Micheal Marshall. This  article addresses that COVID-19 can actually damage your brain when you get it, and not only show the symptoms doctors are telling you. This article uses an example of a woman who began to see lions, and monkeys in her house. She was even convinced that her husband was an imposter and not actually him. The article says “Some people hospitalized with COVID-19 were experiencing delirium: they were confused, disoriented and agitated.” And in some cases, like this woman, symptoms of this were much much worse. A group in Japan recently saw that COVID-19 patients saw swelling in the brain and damage to the tissue as well. But not only does COVID cause these things, there are now reports they can lead to strokes and memory loss as well. A neuroscientist at the University of California says,“The neurological symptoms are only becoming more and more scary.” A case study was compiled of 43 patients in July. There are multiple patterns that seem to be showing up. The most common was strokes and memory loss.

This article is extremely important in today's world. While most people and the news are reporting that symptoms are only cough, and other short term symptoms, this case study and research would make the virus much much worse than what people were thinking. If it’s true that these cause strokes and memory loss, this is a whole different game with covid. It would make this virus much more dangerous than previously thought and should be taken even more seriously as well. While people may be asymptomatic, these things after covid can still be relevant and an issue. While many people may be thinking that COVID is dying down and  not an issue any longer, finding out that this has long term effects can change the strategy and increase pressure to continue to lock down on COVID. 

Overall, I felt like this article was really well written and really liked the way he presented his facts with studies. I really liked how he started out with the story of the woman. It felt like he was trying to reel in the reader and I felt like it worked really well. It really interested me and confused me a bit as well. But as the article went on, he explained why this woman was experiencing the symptoms she was. I also liked how he presented case studies to back up his article and his opinion. He used insightful and interesting facts to present his article and overall was really good. 


4 comments:

  1. Article Citation:

    Marshall, Michael. “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 15 Sept. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5.

    Hyperlink to Blog Review:

    https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/

    In Eric Fleisig’s review of “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain”, he effectively summarized the main points of the article by citing specific examples, connected the topics to a larger social and scientific significance, and highlighted well what he found interesting about the research. For instance, in his first paragraph he concisely described the main point of the article and drew the readers in by mentioning specific examples such as a woman who began to see lions and monkeys after her diagnosis. Furthermore, he placed this research regarding COVID-19 in a larger scientific context by noting how this information changes our perception of the virus. He contrasts the common understanding that COVID-19’s symptoms are trivial and similar to a cold with these new findings suggesting the effects are far more complex and long-lasting. Finally, he outlined specific aspects of the writing and organization that he appreciated and found effective as a reader such as the writer’s choice to hook the reader in in the beginning.

    While this review was overall very concise and well done, I would suggest that Eric elaborate more on the scientific aspects of the studies and how they explored COVID-19’s effect on the brain. He outlines very generally what the scientist discovered, but could make his review even more effective by delving into the specific neurological impacts and how the researchers conducted their study. In addition, I would suggest he go into further detail in his last paragraph, and highlight more specific aspects of the article he enjoyed and would critique. His comments could be more insightful and less general.

    This article and review have certainly provided me with a new and insightful perspective into the complexity of the COVID-19 virus. I was drawn to this review because it addresses very relevant and contemporary issues. One of the main learning experiences I gained from this review was that scientists’ understanding of the COVID-19 virus are constantly evolving. This article provided a unique window into the work and research currently being done.

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  2. Marshall, Michael. “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain.” Nature News, Nature
    Publishing Group, 15 Sept. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5.

    Fleisig, Eric. “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain" -Review by Eric Fleisig,” 4 Oct. 2020,
    bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-covid-19-can-damage-brain-review-by.html.

    Eric Fleisig’s review of the article, How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain, published by Nature News, gives a relevant and concise description of the current global pandemic, COVID-19. I thought it was especially effective how the prominence of this topic was conveyed to the reader. Everyone in the world is aware of the Coronavirus pandemic at this point, but Eric was adamant in showing that this article provides a new perspective on the symptoms and risks of this virus that are applicable to common daily life. He clearly articulates the ongoing importance of this issue and reiterates the severity of it upon recognizing that many are starting to invalidate the level of attentiveness still needed to combat Coronavirus. Additionally, I thought it was powerful that Eric included both the medical jargon and tangible symptoms of this more recently discovered impact of COVID-19. Providing examples of very serious symptoms that are not typically listed in media articles or stated on the news was another effective aspect of this review, and definitely was compelling in getting someone to look for more details within the original article. For example, including the phrase, “[a woman] began to see lions, and monkeys in her house,” is extremely eye catching and certainly a sufficient way to get someone’s attention to the importance of this topic. A final strong aspect of this review was the integration of information from a University of California research study lead by neuroscientists. This current and credible source of information gives both the original article and the review of it more validity and persuasiveness of this pandemic’s effects.
    Despite the good, this review by Eric Fleisig could have been made stronger by a further expansion of the brain damage resulting from COVID-19. I would have liked to hear more about the actual cause of this brain damage and what is actually being damaged rather than just receiving a compiled list of possible symptoms. If more could have been said about the woman who was having visions of exotic animals and if any treatment could have aided her condition, that would’ve boosted this review’s effectiveness as well. In addition to this, the review would have come across as more professional if there had been a more thorough scanning for typos. I noticed some punctuation and spelling errors that could have detracted from the credibility of the review of the article, and in turn, it could impact the readers thoughts on the credibility of the original article since the reviewers didn’t seem as adequate.
    As pointed out by Eric during his review, many of the more high profile symptoms of the Coronavirus pandemic are not always as thoroughly reported as they could be, and I learned about a whole new set of symptoms of this virus that is very prevalent to my own life and the lives of friends, family, and other loved ones. It impressed me how this review was able to teach me new information about a topic so relevant in current news and global affairs in a concise and informative way.

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  3. Riley Morgan
    Mr Ippolito
    AP Bio
    10/5/20

    Marshall, Michael. “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 15 Sept. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5.
    https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/

    The review Eric Fleisig performed on the article: "How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain." was very interesting and informative. He discusses how COVID-19 can actually damage your brain when you get it, and not only show the symptoms doctors are telling you. I like how he was straightforward with the information. When he stated how “A group in Japan recently saw that COVID-19 patients saw swelling in the brain and damage to the tissue as well.”, it was a good way to put the information because it was a bunch of information packed into one sentence. I also appreciate how he was able to captivate the reader by using captivating words at the beginning like brain damage, and monkeys and lions. He did a good job stating things in her article that could have been improved and fixed in the future.
    One thing Eric could improve on is explaining how and why she chose the article. He did not provide any reasoning behind his decision to write about it. Eric’s analysis was also very short and didn't provide the detail she needed to do the article justice. He could provide a longer analysis that makes the reader feel she has read the full article and knows what it is about. He also did not state the importance of the article. To improve, Eric could spend more time talking about the details explained as well as making more connections as to why he chose the article and inserting the importance to deepen her analysis.
    I chose this article because it was very interesting and I enjoy reading things like this. I also wanted to see Eric’s writing style as I have never looked at one of his reviews before. By reading this article I learned about how the COVID-19 virus is being proved to cause brain damage. It will change my perception because now I have another piece of knowledge that I can use.

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  4. Macklin Pettee
    Mr. Ippolito
    AP Bio/ Current event 2 Review
    10/5/20
    Marshall, Michael. “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 15 Sept. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5.

    www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5

    Erics’s take on the article, “How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain.” was almost frightening but very interesting. This article took a look on some potential effects of Covid and how it can be more damaging in the long run. Erics’s analysis of this article was well done, and by reading his summary of the article, I was able to absorb the information precisely and informatively. For example, in the first paragraph, he opens with a frightening experience about a woman who thought her own husband was an imposter. This instantly grabbed my attention and led me to continue reading. Another great example of Erics’s analysis was in the second paragraph. Here, he again describes the importance of this research and study. He discusses that people aren’t taking this matter seriously enough, especially with these news being released about the potential brain damage. He informed the audience that symptoms can be so much worse than a common cough and aches, so this is a more important matter. On the same note, I enjoyed how he approached his third paragraph. He seemed very knowledgeable on the article, and maybe not so much on the topic yet, but he acknowledged that he was able to learn a lot and express his own opinion on this concerning the topic of Covid’s future.
    Although I felt Eric did a great job in reviewing this article, I could point out a couple things that he could improve on. First off, is the lack of depth in some of his points. A few of Eric’s points throughout the article were very strong, but I seemed to be left on edge with them. He could have had more information and went deeper into some of these topics; For example, when he talked about how these long term effects can change the strategy of taking down Covid. I wish he would have went deeper and gave us some more points and ideas. Furthermore, I feel like Eric could have done a better job in quoting some of his writing. I saw that he did have one quote near his opening of the writing, but he could have again looked for some valid quotes to further strengthen his argument and review.
    After reading this review, I was shocked at how concerning this matter could be for the general public. If Covid were to cause brain damage to people that contracted it, this virus would be exponentially more scary and respected in terms of care. It was very interesting to see how scientists are already seeing effects like this, and it's fascinating to see how advanced we are getting as humans.

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