Welcome Coverage

Thank you for your positive response to the pandemic. The many practical tips are a great help to me both professionally—I am a retired speech language pathologist—and personally. I have chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome [a condition characterized by extreme fatigue and immunologic and neurologic abnormalities], sleep apnea, and neuropathy. Your magazine offers support and information I can't find anywhere else, despite the many medical specialists with whom I interact. - Barbara Dabul, PHD

I appreciate your devoting the June/July issue to COVID-19. After experiencing many health challenges, including serotonin syndrome and a stroke, I went back to school in 2018 to become an integrative health coach. During this existential health crisis, I have created a journal called FearLess: A Path Toward Courage that helps people find purpose and move forward. In addition, my husband and I have converted our yard from a beautiful floral garden to a food-growing enterprise. Because of my allergies, I am now making nearly everything from scratch. We are looking forward to the many vegetables, herbs, and berries we are growing. Having a clearly defined purpose and maintaining my journaling, yoga, and mindfulness routine give my days structure. Having a deadline to finish my journal has kept me focused and busy while I stay safe at home. It's great to have a quality resource such as your amazing magazine. - Tamara Hall Fuchs, Enterprise, OR

Thank you for departing from your usual celebrity cover image, as noted in the editor's column ("Feel the Love," June/July 2020). I hope this can be done on a permanent basis. I would rather have an ordinary person on the cover, telling his or her story, or other medical personnel talking about how they are addressing patients' problems. - Debra Williams, Blackwood, NJ

THE EDITOR RESPONDS: We feature celebrities and public figures as part of our mission to promote awareness of neurologic disorders and the needs of our readers; however, we remain committed to sharing a wide range of stories in our publication.

Suggested Subjects

I love your magazine, but I wish dystonia had been mentioned in the June/July issue. After getting Botox injections regularly for 21 years, it was very difficult to have my injection postponed for two months. My toolbox of treatments has been greatly reduced. I can't get a massage or do water therapy. I am having a difficult time getting back to where I was, despite doing tai chi and yoga. I know I'm in the majority in the dystonia community. - Pam Wheatley, Maryville, IL

COVID-19 changed my taste and smell, and after four months I'm starting to wonder if I can do anything to help them recover. I'm reaching out in case you are writing any articles on this subject or know of anyone doing research on it. - Erica Meier, Ridgefield, CT

I've had nonheadache, or silent, migraines my whole life. Recently, I've had a few episodes of apraxia of speech [a disorder that makes it difficult for people to say what they want to correctly]. Oliver Sacks described migraine symptoms extensively in the book Migraine, including aphasia and apraxia of speech. I think an article about these types of migraines would be helpful for those who have them and interesting for those who may have symptoms they didn't realize were caused by migraines. - Phil Gorman, Charlottesville, VA

THE EDITOR RESPONDS: Many people with neurologic conditions are experiencing frustrations over missing appointments. For more on wellness during the pandemic, see our article about self-care. For more articles about dystonia, see our content collection. We will continue to cover this condition in upcoming issues. We wrote about the connection between COVID-19 and anosmia (loss of smell) and ageusia (loss of taste) in our June/July 2020 issue. We welcome suggestions from readers about different disorders and will consider silent migraines for a future issue of Brain & Life or a blog post by one of our editorial board members who specializes in migraine. In the meantime, visit for information on how to manage neurologic conditions during this time.