New Approach for the Treatment of Long COVID

Most people who get COVID-19 recover within a few weeks. But some people, even those who only had a mild case of the disease, might have symptoms that last a long time afterward. This ongoing condition is sometimes called post-COVID-19 syndrome, or more commonly long COVID.

Recent modelling by the University of Tasmania estimates that up to 500,000 people in Australia could be experiencing long COVID by the beginning of December 2022, with more than a fifth of those cases suffering “significant impacts”.

Dr Cysique leads a University of New South Wales team that has been studying the ongoing effects of COVID on the brain since early 2020. The team found that two years on, up to a quarter of the participants had some ongoing cognitive difficulties.

Symptoms of Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

The most commonly reported symptoms of post-COVID-19 syndrome include:

• Fatigue
• Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort
• Neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty thinking or concentrating, headache, sleep problems, dizziness when you stand, pins-and-needles feeling, loss of smell or taste, and depression or anxiety
• Joint or muscle pain
• Fever
• Lung (respiratory) symptoms, including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath and cough
• Heart symptoms or conditions, including chest pain and fast or pounding heartbeat
• Digestive symptoms, including diarrhea and stomach pain
• Blood clots and blood vessel (vascular) issues, including a blood clot that travels to the lungs from deep veins in the legs and blocks blood flow to the lungs (pulmonary embolism)
• Other symptoms, such as a rash or changes in the menstrual cycle

How Long COVID Can Occur

It is not yet clear if post-COVID-19 syndrome is new and unique to COVID-19. However the more common symptoms are very similar to those caused by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and other chronic illnesses that develop after infections. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) can cause various symptoms of inflammation of the brain, including brain fog, lack of refreshing sleep, and things that have a minor effect on the body causing a big impact.

Researchers are now uncovering how Post-Viral Fatigue Syndromes, including Long COVID, can become life-changing diseases and why patients suffer frequent relapses.

In a study published in Frontiers in Neurology, Emeritus Professor Warren Tate of the University of Otago, and colleagues from Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, and University of Technology Sydney, explained how the brain-centred symptoms of these diseases are due to a brain-body connection.

They believe that, following the initial viral infection or a subsequent stressor event, the brain can be affected by either

• the systemic pathology traveling to the brain along neurovascular pathways, or
• through an incorrectly-functioning blood-brain barrier.

This causes chronic inflammation of the brain/nervous system, leading to an ongoing illness. Sometimes there will also be an ongoing cycle of mild recovery and relapses.

Their model proposes that the body doesn’t heal and recover because of a continuous signal from the brain to the body, causing the patient to constantly relapse.

Professor Tate advised that “These diseases (CFS and Long COVID) are very closely related, and it is clear the biological basis of Long COVID is unequivocally connected to the original COVID infection – so there should no longer be any debate and doubt about the fact that post viral fatigue syndromes like CFS are biologically based and involve much disturbed physiology.”

“Patients need appropriate affirmation of their biological-based illness, and help to mitigate the distressing symptoms of these very difficult life-changing syndromes which are difficult for the patients to manage by themselves.”

“This work highlighted that there is a susceptible subset of people who develop such syndromes when exposed to a severe stress, like infection with COVID-19, or the glandular fever virus Epstein Barr, or in some people with vaccination that is interpreted as a severe stress.”

Treatment

In our experience, both Long COVID and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are much more common than people realise. Unfortunately there is no blood test to diagnose these conditions, and conventional medicine has very little to offer these patients.

So we see both of these conditions frequently. We have found the most effective approach is

• Conduct a thorough assessment first (a ‘Comprehensive Assessment’)
• If there are indications of any remaining virus or infection in their system, to treat that
• If the immune system shows as being in a weakened state, improve the immune system
• If there are indications of any inflammation of the brain or nervous system, to treat the inflammation
• To address any other contributing factors that may also be causing additional fatigue (such as significant vitamin or mineral deficiencies, neurotransmitter imbalances, etc)

As with any condition, it is always important to treat the causes of the problem.

Free Assessment

We are currently offering a limited number of free Comprehensive Assessments. (Terms and conditions- the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.) These help to identify

• What is going on in your body
• What is working properly and what is not
• What is causing the problem
• The best way to sort it out

If you would like to book in for an Assessment, please give us a call on 3376 6911, or you can book online using the link at the top of the page.

Be well, and have a great life!