Even if the causes of long COVID remain confusing, researchers are zeroing in on biomarkers – compounds that can be detected and measured – that can help them better diagnose and treat the condition. The eventual goal: a simple test to help determine who has long COVID and whether treatments are helping.
“The hope is that the specific markers that are discovered will inform how individual clusters (of disease) should be treated and managed to either reduce or eliminate symptoms,” says David Walt, PhD, co-director of the Mass General Brigham Center for COVID Innovation in Boston.
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Researchers know that patients should not expect a single diagnostic test or research metric to emerge. Several things appear to be linked to various symptoms. Scientists and doctors predict they will establish different clinical subtypes of long COVID.
Many research teams are working under the umbrella of the RECOVER Initiative, a $1.15 billion National Institutes of Health long COVID project. The NIH has funded 40 research projects looking at the role of metabolism, genetics, obesity, antibodies, inflammation, diabetes, and more.
