More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, millions of patients worldwide are suffering from the lingering symptoms of long COVID-19, while doctors still search to find answers for treatment.
Long COVID-19 can be hard to characterize. Common symptoms include fatigue, problems with memory and thinking, loss of taste and smell, shortness of breath, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. To further complicate things, long COVID symptoms can be difficult to track on conventional lab tests, in part because they may come and go over time.
In 2021, the National Institutes of Health announced that it was kicking off a $470 million study to figure out why COVID-19 symptoms persist for so long among many patients.
Researchers are already beginning to understand how the human immune system contributes to how a patient responds to COVID-19.
In a small study, about half of people hospitalized with COVID-19 had antibodies in their blood that could mistakenly attack the body’s own proteins and tissues. Autoantibodies are found in a wide range of autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Although more work is needed to see if these autoantibodies contribute to the symptoms of long COVID, Dr. Steven Phillips sees clear parallels.
“There are only so many inflammatory pathways that the body can take in response to an infection and there are common themes in how you can go about getting people well,”‘ he said.
His new book “Chronic: The Hidden Cause of the Autoimmune Pandemic and How to Get Healthy Again” explores chronic illness, the underlying causes, and infections that can cause chronic illness.
He believes what is known about treating chronic illness may provide answers for those suffering from long COVID.
“Chronic” delves into the history and science behind common infections that are difficult to diagnose and treat and provides solutions that empower readers to get their lives back.
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