Long COVID Research Is In Its ‘ Most Hopeful ’ Phase Yet

A phenomenal amount of research on Long COVID—the name for chronic symptoms following a case of COVID-19—has been published over the past three years. But scientific advances have yet to bring relief to people who are already sick, a group estimated to include about 5% of U.S. adults but hard to precisely quantify due to the difficulty of diagnosing people correctly. Researchers are optimistic that breakthroughs are coming. The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched multiple clinical trials focused on potential therapies, and several recent studies have pointed to biomarkers that may help doctors accurately diagnose—and, hopefully, treat—people with Long COVID. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “In the short history of studying this disease, this is probably the most hopeful moment we’ve ever had,” says Christoph Thaiss, an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine who co-authored a recent study on Long COVID in Cell. The search for biomarkers Long COVID is currently a disease mostly defined by its symptoms, which range from brain fog and fatigue to headaches and nervous-system dysfunction. There is no single test that can diagnose it—although recent research points to a variety of potential testing methods, from full-body scans to eye exams. A September study published in Nature was widely heralded as a step toward finally ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news