betsy ladyzhets 😷

@betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

editor/co-founder @thesicktimes.org | journalist covering Long COVID & related crises | she/her/🏳️‍🌈

email: [email protected] | signal: betsyladyzhets.25 | https://thesicktimes.org/

@chloedecanson.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

Why do people with ME claim to know more about the medical aspects of their disease than their doctors? Because the mechanisms that usually ensure doctors' knowledge fail in the case of ME, and sick people have created mechanisms of knowledge production and dissemination to pick up the slack.

Screenshot of the header of a published paper: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Patient's knowledge, doctor's ignorance: The production of knowledge about myalgic encephalomyelitis Chloé de Canson Department of of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Groningen, Oude Boteringestraat 52, Groningen, 9712 GL, the Netherlands
@lacksauthority.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

never the wrong time for this classic

Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
Science Magazine@science.org

Exclusive: A new analysis refutes James Watson’s claim that he was the first to recognize the significance of the famed photograph 51. https://scim.ag/4rTKck8

scim.agHow did Rosalind Franklin miss the helix in her iconic DNA image? She didn’tNew analysis refutes James Watson’s claim he was first to recognize significance of famed photograph 51
@elizabethjacobs.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

RFK Jr. alleges that he wants to focus on chronic disease and sideline infectious disease research, but the big dummy doesn’t care about the interplay between the two. A new study estimates that 12% of all cancer cases in 2024 were caused by infections, including H. pylori, HPV, HBV, and EBV.

@thesicktimes.orgReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

The current COVID-19 picture remains varied by region: as the summer wave continues into early fall, cases are trending up in the Northeast and parts of the West and down in the South. And an upcoming gap between CDC contracts will further restrict available data. thesicktimes.org/2026/09/29/n...

Graphic from The Sick Times sharing the latest COVID-19 trends for September 29, 2026. The graphic presents trends for three metrics: WastewaterSCAN category for SARS-CoV-2, which is "high" (represented with red) and slightly decreasing (represented with a diagonal down arrow); CDC wastewater viral activity level for SARS-Cov-2, which is "low*" (darker yellow) and stable (side to side arrow); and CDC COVID-19 test positivity, which is moderate (darker yellow) and slightly decreasing. Text below these metrics reads: "*CDC wastewater viral activity levels are calculated based on measurements in the last two years only. They do not account for the lower spread that could be possible with more widespread precautions." The current COVID-19 picture remains varied by region: as the summer wave continues into early fall, cases are trending up in the Northeast and parts of the West and down in the South. And an upcoming gap between CDC contracts will further restrict available data.
@octoberk.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

this investigation on long COVID inside of prisons is out today at the Sick Times! I worked on this piece for months and am so grateful to the folks who shared their experiences with me. I'll write up a real thread a little later, but you can read it now:
thesicktimes.org/2026/09/29/i...

thesicktimes.orgI interviewed five people with Long COVID in prison. They are invisible in the system. - The Sick TimesWhile there are no data sources on Long COVID in prison, experts suspect rates of the disease may be higher there than in the general population. They face high reinfection risks and poor access to me...
@davidforbes.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

If it seemed like a major newspaper making some conflict at a random dyke bar a national news piece in a push to depict trans and higher-risk folks as inherently unreasonable was suspect af...well, it was. Y'all who were breathlessly sharing that story? You were just being played. Have some sense.

@themountaingoats.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

on the other hand, the Mountain Goats, at it since 1991, still dropping bangers once a year on average and torching stages around the globe with ever-increasing intensity

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@solidevidence.bsky.socialReposted by @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social

Every week I get a metagenomic readout of the most elevated viruses from wastewater collected the week before (44 sites). COVID was on the list today for the first time since last winter, along with D68 and a bunch of rhinoviruses.

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