Taylor Lorenz

@taylorlorenz.bsky.social

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Journalist writing about technology and life online for The Washington Post.

Host of Power User podcast

Posts Replies Media

Right wing influencers and tech leaders are using the Trump shooting to attack DEI www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Right-wing influencers use Trump assassination attempt to attack DEIwww.washingtonpost.com Attacking diversity and inclusion efforts has become a popular way for conservatives to generate outrage online.

Reply to

DaveAnthony

Exactly, and these things matter (especially to those of us who are high risk with messed up immune systems!)

Reply to

EC Hamilton (Siobhan O'Leary)

Thank you! And I suggest listening to Iwasaki herself along with the myriad other long covid experts who have spoken about and are treating these issues.

Reply to

c0nc0rdance

Idk her handle and I use tools to mass block ppl, give me her tag and I'm happy to unblock. Nice to see her name listed, but I suggest we listen to Iwasaki herself along w actual MDs treating the disease. It is not disputed by any legit person in LC world that covid can damage immune system

Reply to

c0nc0rdance

Here's some helpful info. Sadly scientific and medical experts on long covid are all on twitter. Some who I suggest following on there include Akiko Iwasaki and Ziyad Al-Aly. libguides.mskcc.org/CovidImpacts...

MSK Library Guides: COVID Impacts: Immunelibguides.mskcc.org Detailed information and resources on the long-term health consequences of COVID-19 infection and the broad social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

Reply to

Michael Hobbes

It's all good. Ryan started months ago by claiming Covid couldn't harm the immune system. So I'm glad to see he's at least admitted he was wrong about his central claim.

Reply to

Michael Hobbes

I'd love to chat on the phone & walk you thought all the falsehoods in this piece. Most egregiously he writes: "There's no solid evidence that an ordinary case of COVID damages the immune system." That is false, there's overwhelming proof that "ordinary" covid can and does often cause immune harm

I think you're missing the fact that what started this debate was Ryan claiming Covid can't and doesn't damage the immune system in the first place. He got fact checked by actual experts back on Twitter months ago, and is now here pushing his schtick on bluesky

When u look at all the myriad ways Covid can damage the immune system, it's clear that it's not an insignificant amount. Though I agree with u that exact figures are very hard to know, in part bc it takes ppl up to a decade or more to get diagnosed w autoimmune diseases alone.

Overall, it's frustrating that Ryan refuses to speak to or engage with any of the doctors actually studying and treating Covid related immune issues. There are plenty! But he ignores them.

Reply to

Buttadeus

Tbc, Ryan did not agree on that months ago when he started this argument by claiming Covid couldn't harm the immune system. His false claim: "There is no evidence that an ordinary case of COVID damages the immune system" is still false. There's overwhelming evidence that "ordinary" covid can do this

Yup! Thanks Emily

Yes, along with his general misogyny which is also reprehensible.

Reposted by

Taylor Lorenz

Reply to

Kevin Korb

Cooper's evidence? "Reseach shows", without identifying any such research. Give me a break. Try instead the NIH or someone else with actual understanding of the issues.

Severe COVID-19 may lead to long-term innate immune system changeswww.nih.gov NIH-funded research links alterations to inflammatory protein, underscores vaccine importance.

Reposted by

Taylor Lorenz

There's a general question abt damage to the immune system. Cooper claims "There is no solid evidence that an ordinary case of COVID damages the immune system." He should probably stop doing that & you should prob not defend it.

No, my arguments are NOT about "adaptive immunity" or T cells. Literally just stop you're making shit up. I never said any of that.

Reply to

Kevin Korb

Also, FWIW I never claimed what this lady is claiming I did. She's just making things up now, which I think should be clear.

I debunk anti vaxx, health related and covid related conspiracy theories for a living. I also have an immune condition I've been living with for years, so I'm extremely up to date on the research in this area. Ryan is the one refusing to engage w any experts and instead pushing his own conspiracies

No, I'm not "pushing" "depletion of adaptive immunity" at all. I never did that. Ryan claimed Covid *doesn't* harm the immune system. That is false. Covid can damage the immune system in myriad ways. Every expert on long covid and the entire Cedars immunology dept, MSKCC and many more agree on this

Except my arguments do not rest on my friend who is using a joke twitter name, I'm sure you're familiar with people being humorous online. They rest on actual research in this space. You might want to take a step back and educate yourself on covid and long covid libguides.mskcc.org/CovidImpacts...

yup

Yes and tbc, Ryan did not agree on that months ago when we started this argument, I'm glad to see that he now realizes it's true, though he's still refusing to engage with the actual experts who study and treat these issues, who have made it clear they're far more common than most people realize.

Reply to

MeGustaCarne

I get that & I (ironically) think Twitter is better for these discussions bc there are so many actual Covid doctors and scientists on there who have debunked Ryan's dubious claims, which is why he will only engage on here. I think Bluesky and the way it weights replies makes it much harder for this

Reply to

Michael Hobbes

Yes, tho new autoimmune issues are just 1 of the ways Covid can damage the immune system, there are myriad other ways Covid can cause immune function to go off of the rails. It's far more common than most would imagine (though does not happen to everyone), women also have diff immune profiles vs men

Also, there's so much we are still learning about the immune system! That's why it's so crucial to listen to the actual experts studying these topics. Akiko Iwasaki is the foremost expert in Covid and immune damage and long covid, and she's conducting research into lots of proposed mechanisms

Research Interestsmedicine.yale.edu In the Iwasaki Laboratory, we focus on understanding how viruses infect the host through the mucosal surfaces to cause diseases, how the immune system deals

Reposted by

Taylor Lorenz

Reply to

Taylor Lorenz

BTW, the info you shared is very helpful. Reading through a few studies seems to show stong evidence that COVID can impact immune system. Since RC doesn't back up his claims with similar quality data, I'm inclined to side with you.

Reposted by

Taylor Lorenz

Reply to

Taylor Lorenz

I have immune damage from Covid and other infections, and I’ve worked in Ebola, post-polio, Alzheimer’s (which is a post-viral condition) plus medical journalism Experts in post-viral immune damage know Covid causes it and it’s not rare, folks choosing not to interview them mislead the public

Actually, not linking directly to misinformation is standard practice for journalists. Amplifying articles with false information spreads that false information. Instead, here's a link to a great resource by Memorial Sloan Kettering that debunks your nonsense: libguides.mskcc.org/CovidImpacts...

one propaganda tactic Taylor has copied from her Tiktok misinformation friends is you never, ever link to the source you're criticizing. you provide a screenshot and then lie about what's in it

Here's my longer thread. TLDR Ryan Cooper has long misled his followers about Covid's long term harm to the body. I'm glad he is now admitting that Covid can and does damage many people's immune systems (among many other harms) bsky.app/profile/tayl...

Here's Akiko Iwasaki, a top immunologist, one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People in health and medicine, talking on the American Medical Association podcast talking about various theories about the cause of long covid, all involve immune damage www.ama-assn.org/delivering-c...

Akiko Iwasaki on what causes long COVID, brain fog, the Yale Paxlovid study and long COVID treatmentswww.ama-assn.org The AMA Update covers a range of health care topics affecting the lives of physicians and patients. Learn more about the causes of Long COVID, treatments and more.

Reply to

Emily Johnson

Thank you Emily, but these people don't care