From [HERE] I stumbled upon this article in mainstream media, which linked to the Medpage Today review of an important study detailing functional neurologic disorders (FND) after COVID-19 infection or vaccination.

I don’t usually bother to re-publish items from Medpage Today because of their extreme bias against physicians and scientists who have spoken out about the pseudo-mRNA vaccine. I am making an exception because they actually published this review without bias.

I am posting sections of the article here for educational purposes only.

Please note the subtitle from Medpage article below, “Long COVID functional manifestations differ from post-vaccine effects.”

Within the body of the text, Medpage admits adverse events from the vaccine are more common than previously thought! Is this evidence that the tide of misinformation from medical journals geared toward physician education may be decreasing? One can only hope …

In my experience, post-vaccination twitching is almost as common as tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Based on this casual observation, I suspect that post-vaccination FND is quite common, which (if true) is likely to predict long-term neurologic consequences for a large fraction of the population.

According to “Functional Neurological Disorder Emerges After COVID Infection, Vaccines — Long COVID functional manifestations differ from post-vaccine effects,” Medpage Today, March 24, 2023:

“Patients with functional neurologic disorder (FND) after SARS-CoV-2 infection had different symptoms than people with FND after COVID vaccines, retrospective data showed.

“Patients with post-COVID FND tended to be older, had more insidious onset, and had higher disability, according to Araceli Alonso-Canovas, MD, PhD, of Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal in Madrid, and co-authors.

“Those with FND after COVID vaccination more closely resembled classic FND: they were younger, had an acute onset, and tremor was the most common phenotype, the researchers reported in Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

“‘We show for the first time evidence from a multicenter national study that FNDs after COVID-19 infections and vaccines are more common than previously reported and have distinct clinical profiles,’ Alonso-Canovas told MedPage Today.

“The findings point to a need to consider FND when diagnosing patients with post-COVID neurologic symptoms, she added.

“’Long COVID is an umbrella term and many different circumstances have to be considered,’ Alonso-Canovas said. ‘If there are neurological symptoms, a careful history and examination is mandatory to rule out FND, as it is a well-defined clinical condition that is potentially treatable.’

“FND refers to disorders caused by an abnormality in brain signaling with no significant structural brain damage. It occurs in an estimated four to 12 people per 100,000 per year and accounts for about 6% of outpatient neurology visits.

“Vaccinations can trigger FND, as can other stressors including infections. While experts maintain some people with FND might be long COVID patients, little research has been conducted to evaluate this.

“’If the neurological examination is not searching for these features, the diagnosis will be missed,’ Espay told MedPage Today. ‘Given the therapeutic implications, ascertaining the functional subtype of long COVID is imperative.’

“Phenotype was purely motor in 65% of FND patients and mixed sensorimotor in 32%. One patient had isolated sensory syndrome. Fatigue (72%), pain (57%), and cognitive difficulties (30%) were common.

“People in the post-COVID group were older (46 vs 35 years in the post-vaccine group) and had higher disability (76% vs 31%, respectively). The post-COVID group also trended toward having more men (24% vs 15%), more people with previous psychological difficulties (50% vs 23%), and less frequent abrupt FND onset (38% vs 62%).

“In the post-COVID group, 58% had previously received a long COVID diagnosis, and FND symptoms started within the convalescence period in 87% of patients. In the post-vaccine group, FND symptoms started within 1 week after vaccination in most cases.

“Overall, 22 FND patients (48%) required treatment with psychiatry or psychology specialists, 15 (33%) needed physical therapy, and one needed speech therapy. After a mean follow-up of 14 months from onset, 46% had improved, 39% remained stable, and 9% had worsened. Three patients were unavailable for follow-up after diagnosis.”

The actual scientific article may also interest readers, therefore highlights from that are posted below. Again, the main article is behind a paywall.

“Functional neurological disorders after COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: a national multicentre observational study,” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, a BMJ Journal. [MORE]