- This topic has 1 reply, 1 voice, and was last updated 2 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
JWCSC day two featured a three-way keynote from Soo-Eun Chang, Edward Conture and Pascal van Lieshout.
[See the full post at: JWCSC Montreal day 2]
-
A few thoughts on the COVID-stuttering connection. Neural effects following COVID-19 were identified early on in the pandemic. They are now colloquially described as brain fog. This is one of the many deleterious effects of a syndrome referred to as long covid.
Current indication is that COVID-19 particles are not overabundant in the brain, but rather that the issue is a prolonged immune system response leading to neuroinflammation.
Long covid is at present under-reported in the media, however the pandemic remains ongoing, with continued evolution of the virus in variants such as the Omicron cluster. Thus, stuttering following COVID-19 is unfortunately likely to be an area to watch. Stuttering acquired following COVID-19 may have different characteristics to the stuttering which develops following a more typical childhood onset.
COVID-19 in connection with childhood stuttering adverts to a broader point: acquired stuttering is just as possible in children as in adults. We know from twin studies that only about 70% of childhood stuttering is hereditary. Subtyping childhood stuttering, and developing appropriate treatment plans, may require a greater appreciation of the role disease can play in the onset of stuttering. One example of a candidate disease which may have historically contributed to stuttering is streptocoppal infection, described in this recent article by Per Alm: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2020.569519/full.
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
