News from the USA, United States of America

Michigan Live: 'They got COVID-19 five years ago, and they don’t know why they’re still sick'

'Yet, many questions remain unanswered.'

'Years of not knowing what’s wrong or how to fix it has been challenging for those like Jennifer Gansler, 56, who felt left in the dark by medical experts who ran numerous tests but found little of significance to explain what ailed her.'

Gansler, an academic advisor at Michigan State University: “I struggled to find support in the medical community, and I had to do a lot of my own research."

'A self-described “super active, outdoors-y person,” she was an otherwise healthy mother who liked to run and hike, having tackled both the Porcupine Mountains and Chicago Marathon in 2019.'

'After five months, she estimated she was 30% recovered. Crushing fatigue made it hard to get out of bed. She had chest tightness, a persistent cough, joint and muscle pain, and hair loss. Simple tasks like taking a shower or talking on the phone left her winded.'
 
Rhode Island PBS Weekly: 'Long COVID Keeps Some Rhode Islanders From Returning to Normalcy'

(10 min segment)

'Many have tried to move on with their lives, but for those suffering from long COVID, also known as long haulers, it’s been difficult. Rhode Island PBS Weekly talks with two women in Providence..'

"Spends most of her time in Providence...getting up to do anything has been a challenge..."

"..the light intolerance is so severe, she constantly wears sunglasses, even at home with the shades drawn..."

"..the cause of Long COVID is still being investigated..."

"so many medical professionals are insisting on more and more evidence, to believe me.."

"A lot of times we'll go through a lot of testing for a long period of time that may ultimately not give them any specific results or might not give them any more information than they had before"

"I am completely dependent on care right now"

"I don't know how long this is going to last..."
 
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WSOC-TV: 'Long COVID survivor reflects on struggles 5 years after pandemic’s surge'

“I have to pace everything. I have to plan out my entire day, to pace myself, to make things possible,” Brooke Keaton said.

But that all changed in December 2020 when she got COVID-19. She said she couldn’t shake off severe fatigue and memory loss.

“Just doing something small, my heart would be racing. I had spells where I would black out for a few seconds from just standing up,” Keaton said.
 
US News: '5 Years Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, Millions Like Me Are Still Sick'

'Today, I use a wheelchair to complete daily activities and am mostly housebound from a severe case of myalgic encephalomyelitis, sometimes called chronic fatigue syndrome, which has a wide range of crippling symptoms. My condition was triggered by a COVID-19 infection in July 2020, and I’m one of the at least 5% of U.S. adults who are still suffering chronic symptoms months or even years after a COVID infection. For us, the pandemic never ended.'

'Five years after COVID first struck, we cannot remain silent. We must urge federal, state and local representatives to support and enact the proven public health strategies I outline here to reduce further harm. On behalf of the long COVID community, I also call on the pharmaceutical industry to invest in finding solutions for the 400 million people worldwide who, like me, are suffering from long COVID.'
 
WKYC: 'Millions still battling long COVID as doctors work to study its causes'

'Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, patients are still dealing with lingering symptoms post infection, with fatigue ranking as the highest.'

'"We see people with brain fog, fatigue, dizziness, fast heart rates, stomach issues, obviously the taste and smell issues that everybody associates with the initial COVID infections," explained Dr. William Lago, who specializes in treating long COVID patients and helped start Cleveland Clinic's ReCOVer Clinic.'
 
NBC: '5 years later, long Covid is still a medical mystery: What scientists have learned'

Why do some people develop disabling chronic conditions after the initial viral infection?

'SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid, isn’t the only virus that causes lingering symptoms. Another condition called myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), which shares many similarities with long Covid, is thought to be triggered by infections with the Epstein-Barr, influenza and varicella-zoster viruses, among others.'

One idea is that remnants of the virus hide in different tissues after an infection subsides, Brode said. These viral particles continue to multiply or stimulate the immune system in ways that trigger long Covid symptoms.

Another potential cause involves the reactivation of other viruses, such as EBV and HIV, that have been sitting in a dormant state in people’s bodies.

It’s also possible that Covid tricks the immune system into producing antibodies that attack a person’s own healthy organs and tissues, said Dr. Igor Koralnik, co-director of Northwestern Medicine’s Comprehensive COVID-19 Center.

Some evidence shows that Covid affects the inner lining of the blood vessels, which can lead to the formation of tiny clots and help explain symptoms like irregular heartbeats and heart failure that some long Covid patients experience, Koralnik said.

Koralnik and his team recently discovered that people with long Covid have decreased blood flow in the small blood vessels in their retina, the light-sensitive layer behind the eye. This reduced flow is thought to decrease blood circulation in and around the brain, Koralnik said, which might “poison” tiny organelles called mitochondria that convert oxygen into energy.

This theory can explain why many people with long Covid experience cognitive issues, fatigue and exercise intolerance, Koralnik said.

“Living with long Covid is exhausting,” Cohen said. “So it’s important for everyone who is not living with it to think about what they can do to support folks who are.”

In the meantime, clinical trials must be designed to accommodate and include the patients they’re intended for, Vogel said. Many people are house- or bed-bound
 
ABC News: 'What we still don't know about COVID 5 years after the WHO declared a pandemic'

'Dr. Fernando Carnavali, internal medicine physician and a member of the team at Mount Sinai's Center for Post-COVID Care, said scientists are using machine learning to study groups of long COVID patients in an attempt to determine the mechanisms that cause the condition.'

"Do we have a single answer? Not as of yet, and most likely, perhaps we'll have more than one answer," he said.

Carnavali said the mechanism may not be the same for every long COVID patient. Additionally, people may have different symptoms due to different genetic predispositions.

"Some of the deficits that we have five years ago still remain, but I think that we should all understand and be hopeful that ... researchers using machine learning will [provide] us some of the answers that we need as clinicians," he said.
 
PBS Chicago, 'Chicago Tonight': 'Advocates Say More Help Needed for People With Long COVID'

Marta Cerda, LC patient: "..post-exertional malaise, even if I walk a short distance, I get tired...I have to make accommodations, I have to rest, I have to plan for my time...to manage the symptoms that I have..."

Dr. Jerry Krishnan, UIC: "It's useful to recognize that we're on the path here toward having major discoveries, major treatment for Long COVID...this is an opportunity for all of us to be part of the solution..let's get this solved quicker, together.."
 
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WBEZ Chicago (NPR station): 'How long COVID patients are faring five years after the pandemic shut down Illinois'

Reset checks in with researchers, long-haulers and advocates of people living with long COVID to talk about what we do and do not know about the chronic condition and how the community stays informed and supported.

GUESTS: Dr. Jerry Krishnan, professor of medicine and public health at the University of Illinois Chicago

Amy Pope, long COVID patient and patient researcher

Chimére L. Sweeney, long COVID patient and director of the Black Long COVID Experience

Mike Bielaczyc, a lung transplant social worker and long-hauler support group leader at Northwestern University

--

Krishnan: "there's something called post-exertional malaise...relatively minor amount of either mental or physical exertion...just completely drains you...makes you feel sick...you just feel totally wiped out..I would also add brain fog. Difficulty concentrating...their heart is racing, something that is related to your autonomic nervous system..."

Krishnan: "The good news is that none of the Long COVID research studies that we're a part of - part of RECOVER Initiative - have been cut, in fact there have been funding allocated to expand the number of clinical trials for Long COVID...there is a lot of planning underway to expand the number of clinical trials..we know that Long COVID is not one disease. We need to understand more about the mechanisms. We need treatments specific to Long COVID. I'm really excited about the National Institutes of Health, has really put a commitment to moving forward with clinical trials and really expanding the number of clinical trials, so I think there's a really bright future there...we have to draw what we've learned from the HIV pandemic."

Host: "Is funding under threat from the Trump Administration?"

Krishnan: "...the good news is that both Secretary Kennedy & the NIH Director nominee Bhattacharya have said publicly they support Long COVID & clinical trials...these give me hope that we're moving forward with Long COVID and we look forward to working with the new administration..."
 
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"Do we have a single answer? Not as of yet, and most likely, perhaps we'll have more than one answer," he said.​

FFS, just say 'we don't know, we don't have any good answers at this stage', and leave it at that. Stop prejudicing the process when it has barely got started.
 
PBS: '5 years after it was declared a global pandemic, a look at COVID-19’s impact'

Dr. Ashish Jha: "Yes, I feel like this is something that we just have not made as much progress as we need to. So let's talk about long COVID.

The problem, Geoff, is, we really have not figured out what is long COVID. It's probably not one condition. It's probably one of two or three different conditions. And NIH, I think, has not done enough to test out treatments for these populations to really understand what we can do to help them get better."
 
I'm not sure this article has anything new to add to the discussion about Long Covid, so it might not be worth keeping.

Title : 5 years later, long Covid is still a medical mystery: What scientists have learned

Subtitle : Why do some people develop disabling chronic conditions after the initial viral infection?

Link : https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...medical-mystery-scientists-learned-rcna195608

Publication date : March 11, 2025 / Updated March 11, 2025

Author : Katie Camero

When her school closed down in March 2020, Chimére Sweeney, an English teacher in Baltimore, thought she’d return to her students once the U.S. got a handle on the new SARS-CoV-2 virus. But “life had a different plan” when she got Covid shortly after — and then never recovered, she said.

At first, Sweeney developed only muscle aches. By the second week, she started having panic attacks, blurry vision, constipation and partial hearing loss. Half of her face would freeze “like concrete.” She forgot phone numbers and addresses and she developed a stutter. Within a month after getting infected, she lost 30 pounds.

“I was told that after two weeks I would be better,” Sweeney, now 42, said. “But my two weeks never came.”

Almost five years later, she’s still struggling with severe whole body pain, sleeplessness, depression, painful rashes and boils, uncontrollable urination, short-term memory loss, and irregular periods.

“I went from being a healthy 37-year-old woman who may have had to pop an allergy pill every now and again, to taking over 10 to 12 medications per day to control almost every system in my body,” Sweeney said.
Click to expand...

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Long Covid is known to cause over 200 different symptoms in nearly a dozen organ systems, including those of the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, eyes and skin, but there’s no approved test for it or recommended treatment. Research shows long Covid is more common in middle-aged people, particularly women and those with weakened immune systems, but anyone who catches the virus can get it.
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