Recently, I spoke to Dr. Thomas Pitts, a board certified neurologist, about the immune response that can be elicited by SARS-CoV-2 virus, the mechanisms thought to cause end organ damage and a therapeutic target that may be of interest in the battle against Covid-19.
Dr. Pitts is a principal investigator of a clinical trial investigating a drug for Covid-19. This drug is used for an autoimmune neuromuscular condition myasthenia gravis, but is now being tested in patients who are in the ICU and are seriously ill from Covid-19.
Part I of this interview provides an overview of the immune system’s response leading to life-threatening consequences in Covid-19, as well as the clinical trial Dr. Pitts initiated.
Dr. Pitts has fellowship subspecialty training in Clinical Neurophysiology from Columbia University Medical Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He has earned a Certificate of Added Qualification in Headache Medicine from the National Headache Foundation. Dr. Pitts treats the entire spectrum of neurologic illness and has a personal interest in neuromuscular disorders, especially, Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. He practices at Hudson Medical in Manhattan.
Warm regards,
Dr. Bojana Jankovic Weatherly
