Critical Thinking Practice

Critical Thinking is important in almost all subjects. But what is it?

One way into understanding critical thinking is to consider how we read a newspaper article, whether we trust it completely, and why. Read the article below from the Guardian newspaper and consider the questions in bullet points. These are all examples of critical thinking. Can you think of any other critical questions you could ask?

Now, find another news article of your own (search online) and repeat the questions. Which article do you trust more? Why?

1. How much do you trust the information in this article? Give your level of trust a score (0-5) and explain why.

2. Do you trust the journalist (author)? Why/why not?

3. Is the information up to date?

4. Does the article suggest that some of the research findings are provisional? What would this mean (do an internet search if you are not sure)? Find where the conclusions are expressed tentatively (look up the definition of this word if you need to).

5. Could there be correlation not causation ? What does that mean? Highlight where in the article this could be true.

6. Could anyone involved be biased or have an agenda? What would that mean? Or are the journalists and scientists impartial? Explain your understanding of these terms and give your view.

7. Is further research needed? What further research do you think would help us understand more and be more trusting of this information?

Damage to multiple organs recorded in `long Covid` cases

Exclusive: study of low-risk individuals finds impairments four months after infection

Linda Geddes

Sun 15 Nov 2020

Young and previously healthy people with ongoing symptoms of Covid-19 are showing signs of damage to multiple organs four months after the initial infection, a study suggests.

The findings are a step towards unpicking the physical underpinnings and developing treatments for some of the strange and extensive symptoms experienced by people with long Covid , which is thought to affect more than 60,000 people in the UK. Fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness and pain are among the most frequently reported effects.

On Sunday, the NHS announced it would launch a network of more than 40 long Covid specialist clinics where doctors, nurses and therapists will assess patients physical and psychological symptoms.

The Coverscan study aims to assess the long-term impact of Covid-19 on organ health in around 500 low-risk individuals those who are relatively young and without any major underlying health complaints with ongoing Covid symptoms, through a combination of MRI scans, blood tests, physical measurements and online questionnaires.

Preliminary data from the first 200 patients to undergo screening suggests that almost 70% have impairments in one or more organs, including the heart, lungs, liver and pancreas, four months after their initial illness.

The good news is that the impairment is mild, but even with a conservative lens, there is some impairment, and in 25% of people it affects two or more organs, said Amitava Banerjee, a cardiologist and associate professor of clinical data science at University College London.

This is of interest because we need to know if [the impairments] continue or improve or if there is a subgroup of people who could get worse.

In some, but not all, cases there was a correlation between people s symptoms and the site of the organ impairment. For instance, heart or lung impairments correlated with breathlessness, while liver or pancreas impairments were associated with gastrointestinal symptoms.

It supports the idea that there is an insult at organ level, and potentially multi-organ level, which is detectable, and which could help to explain at least some of the symptoms and the trajectory of the disease, said Banerjee.

However, the study doesn t prove that organ impairments are the cause of people s ongoing symptoms, and the data haven t yet been peer-reviewed.

Banerjee also cautioned that none of the patients were scanned before developing Covid-19, so some of them may have had existing impairments although this is unlikely given their previous good health and relative youth. The average age of participants was 44.

They will continue to be monitored, and the researchers are also scanning people who haven t had Covid-19 or have experienced other viral infections such as flu, for comparison.

Preliminary data from a separate study of 58 patients who were hospitalised with Covid-19 similarly found abnormalities in the lungs of 60% in the kidneys of 29% in the hearts of 26% and in the livers of 10% of patients, two to three months after the initial infection, as well as tissue changes in parts of the brain.