Long Covid: What is a Life-Losing Disease? It’s a Problem for Some, But It Isn’t

The same can’t be said of long Covid, the mysterious, life-limiting ailment that lingers on after an initial Covid infection. For the millions besieged by it, their situation has remained much the same. Linda Geng is the codirector of the post-Acute Covid-19 Syndrome Clinic at Stanford University. Estimates of how many people have long Covid vary, but it’s been put as high as around 65 million—about the same as the population of France.

Researchers estimate that 1.6% of U.S. adults, or about 4 million, have symptoms that have significantly reduced their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

It’s difficult to design clinical trials due to the variety of symptoms. Not every person experiences every symptom, and those may vary in severity and duration. Steven Deeks, an infectious disease specialist for the University of California, San Francisco says there is no consensus on how to define long Covid. “There’s no magic biomarker, there’s no x-ray, there’s no test.” It is difficult to find who to put into a clinical trial. In order to determine that symptoms can’t be explained by another cause, long Covid diagnoses work by exclusion. Regardless, researchers are plowing ahead.

Chronic fatigue, brain fog, and persistent cough affect people’s lives in Los Angeles County, California, a woman who committed suicide in May 2021

“One of my friends committed suicide in May of 2021,” Hedgecock says. She ended her life after she got so bad from her chronic infections and medical issues that it just got too much to handle.

In Los Angeles County, where Hedgecock lived when she fell ill, 46% of adults who contracted COVID were fully recovered a month later, but the rest — a majority — reported one or more continuing symptoms, according to a 675-patient study by the University of Southern California’s COVID-19 Pandemic Research Center.

The researchers found chronic fatigue topped the list of health issues, followed by brain fog and persistent cough, all of which affect people’s daily lives.

Taking antivirals cuts the risk of developing long COVID in people who are newly infected. But for people already suffering, medical science is trying to catch up.

“One of the scariest things that happened to me was I couldn’t breathe at night,” Hedgecock says. “I did go to the emergency room on three different occasions, and each time I was told, ‘You’re up You’re moving. You’re young; you’re healthy. It’s going to be fine.’”

She was told by her doctor that she did not need any supplemental oxygen even though her oxygen saturation dipped below normal at night.

As a Pandemic Emergencies End Some Patients with Long Covid Feel swept Under the r: Landis, 56, lives with her family

“I couldn’t look at a page and tell you what it said. She says there was a difference between the words and her brain. “It was the most discouraging thing I have ever experienced,” he said.

Months later, under the direction of a specialist, Hedgecock underwent a test measuring electrical activity in the brain. The section controlling memory and language was damaged when her brain was deprived of oxygen for months.

She moved back to Tennessee to be closer to her family. She doesn’t leave her apartment without the medical alert button.

She works with a team of specialists, and knows people in online long COVID groups that are losing their health coverage when Medicaid protection expires.

I loved my life but I’ve lost it, because I was able to help people and it was great work,” says a 56-year-old woman who lives in Ukiah, California.

A professional patient is how Landis describes herself, filling her days with physical therapy and medical appointments. She’s gradually improving and can socialize on occasion, though it leaves her exhausted and can take days to recover.

Her depression has continued, along with debilitating pain and anxiety. To make up for her lost income, Landis’ husband works longer hours, which in turn exacerbates her loneliness.

A place where there were people around seven days a week would save me from being alone all day. I’d be living with my family if I was diagnosed with cancer. I’m sure of it.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/19/1164284653/as-pandemic-emergencies-end-some-patients-with-long-covid-feel-swept-under-the-r

Three Years of COVID-19: Telehealth Needs for a 90-Year-Old Analysing Paraprofessional

Linda Rosenthal, a 65-year-old retired high school paraprofessional, has long COVID symptoms, including inflammation in her chest that makes breathing difficult. She has been hard to get medical care for.

She called and set up a treatment plan with a local cardiologist near her home in Orange County, California, but received a letter five days later telling her he would no longer be able to provide her medical services. The letter gave no reason for the cancellation.

“I was so surprised,” she says. I felt betrayed because I received a letter from a doctor that they didn’t want me anymore, and that made me feel like I had self-doubt.

Rosenthal found another doctor who was willing to do telehealth and staff in his office wore masks despite a state rule that expired. The practice, however, is more than an hour’s drive from where she lives.

This article came from the partnership between NPR and KFF Health News, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues.

Three years in, the pandemic mania has settled to a rumbling hum. We’re back to sweating on each other in nightclubs, spluttering out birthday candles, and sharing firm handshakes. Covid-19 has been given a reduced threat thanks to vaccines and treatments.

All these theories have some evidence to support them, and they may not be mutually exclusive; for some people, these things could be happening at the same time. It is possible that long Covid has a variety of causes, which can explain the diversity of symptoms up to 200.