People with coronavirus are at risk of blood clots and strokes. Here’s what we know so far

Reproduced from The Conversation
by Karlheinz Peter, Hannah Stevens and James McFadyen

As well as causing severe respiratory problems, there is mounting evidence COVID-19 causes abnormalities in blood clotting. Patients with severe COVID-19 infection appear to be at greater risk of developing blood clots in the veins and arteries.

Blood clots can occur deep in the veins of the leg (deep vein thrombosis) and can move to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, which restricts blood flow and oxygen, and can be fatal.

Monash program offering at-home care for patients with lung and respiratory conditions

Professor Anne Holland with a lung patient

by Tania Ewing

One of the questions raised by the COVID-19 pandemic is how best to manage both non-COVID and COVID patients with lung conditions while they remain in home isolation.

A home-based program developed by Monash researcher, Professor Anne Holland, is gaining global attention because it is designed to assist clinicians with developing at-home rehabilitation programs for people with respiratory illness.

Cracking the COVID-19 immunity code

Dr James McMahon, COVID-19 biobank

development lead

Monash University’s Dr James McMahon, an infectious disease expert and hospital clinician at The Alfred and Monash Health, is leading the development of a biobank aimed at cracking the immunity code of COVID-19.

The biobank enables the collection of clinical information along with blood and respiratory swabs from COVID-19 patients in Melbourne to be thoroughly tested to establish how the virus behaves in different people.

24 March - 6 April 2020 Central Clinical School recent publications

South Indian rural residents buck the trend of hypertension, study finds.

Image: George Institute for Global Health

Recent publications as notified by PubMed during the fortnight 24 March - 6 April from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers in the following departments. This is not a comprehensive list:

• Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine
• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases
• Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Infectious Diseases
• Melbourne Sexual Health Centre
• Neuroscience
• Surgery & National Trauma Research Institute
  

Welcome to Dr Ian Harding, Department of Neuroscience

Dr Ian Harding

Welcome to Dr Ian Harding, who started with the Department of Neuroscience in 2020. He leads the Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration research group in the department and Monash Biomedical Imaging. Ian uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to investigate and track brain changes in people with neurodegenerative diseases.

This work principally focusses on individuals with inherited subcortical diseases, including Friedreich ataxia, Spinocerebellar ataxias, and Huntington’s disease. Additional work in other neurodegenerative disorders and in preclinical animal models is also being undertaken with his  collaborators.

The broad aims of the group's research include biological phenotyping, such as describing changes in brain structure and function, and mechanistic inferences, including cellular/molecular-level measurements of inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic dysfunction.

Ben Sinclair wins Public Vote in Victoria for global science competition FameLab video!

See Dr Ben Sinclair's Famelab video

Monash University neuroscientist, Dr Ben Sinclair, has been awarded first place in the public vote segment of Victorian applicants by the global science competition FameLab for his engaging video presentation on using exercise as a treatment for brain disease.

Thanks to everyone who voted for Ben!