The world has changed since you last opened this magazine. Over the past few months, most of you have been staying at home, engaging with your doctors through telehealth visits, and adopting new habits to protect yourselves and your families from COVID-19.
At Brain & Life, we have created a section on our website dedicated to information about how neurologic conditions—stroke, migraine, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, ALS, dementia, sleep apnea, and more—should be managed in the face of the pandemic.
Our editorial boards for both the English and Spanish editions, composed of 27 experienced neurologists, have been meeting weekly by Zoom and collaborating with our staff to provide content and resources to help keep you safe and bring you new information about COVID-19. We've also provided advice about handling aspects of day-to-day life, such as learning the difference between an essential visit and a nonessential visit, managing your medications, and practicing self-care.
Our readers have been writing to us in droves about COVID-19, as you can see from some of the letters in this issue, and several have submitted blogs about living with a neurologic condition during these times, including ideas for exercising at home and adjusting to shelter-in-place orders.
This print magazine, like our online resources, has been a labor of love for all of us. The entire team has been thinking about you—people with neurologic conditions and their caregivers—which is why we decided to devote this issue to helping you cope with the pandemic. Our feature "Managing Anxiety in the Face of a Pandemic" recognizes the anxiety you may feel and provides advice on managing it, as does our wellness column on mindfulness techniques. "Neurologists and Patients Weigh In on How We Can Heal Together" suggests ideas for how to move forward as restrictions loosen throughout parts of the country. We have columns on nutrition and exercise that address the limitations on your daily routines and offer new ways to stay healthy. We also include a touching caregiving story focused on people with dementia living in nursing homes, which includes a section for those caring for relatives at home. Our telehealth story should help you prepare for a virtual visit with your neurologist.
As usual, your stories are also featured, including our Strong Voices piece by a blogger with multiple sclerosis, a Pictures of You interview with a remarkable firefighter with Parkinson's disease, and a lovely Speak Up column from a husband and wife who rely on poetry to deal with the husband's dementia while in lockdown.
Our feature "Honoring Neurology Heroes on the Front Lines" is a tribute to all neurologists and other health care personnel who have treated COVID-19 patients as well as those who are caring for patients hospitalized with neurologic conditions. As you can see, our cover is a departure from our usual celebrity image, and it represents our gratitude and respect for medical staff who have risked their health to care for others.
We salute them for their sacrifices and you for your resilience during these unprecedented times.
We are inspired by your letters, so many of which have expressed thanks for the resources we have posted online and for providing information to the community of people with neurologic diseases. These letters mean so much to us, especially during this current crisis. We thank those of you who are staying home, those of you who are essential workers, and those of you on the front lines.
Stay safe and be well,
Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief
