LONG HAUL COVID OFFERS HOPE OF BETTER TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR CHRONIC ILLNESS

As of April 1, 2022 there are over 80 million COVID infection cases that have been reported in the U.S.¹   It is anticipated that roughly half of these patients will develop Long COVID.²

Rarely discussed are the similarities of symptoms of Long COVID, ME/CFS (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses.  These similarities of symptoms has led to the proposal of a new classification of these illnesses as PostActive Phase of Infection Syndromes or PAPIS.³ Researchers Dr. Ken Friedman⁴ and Dr. David Maughan⁵ describe the similarities between ME/CFS and Long COVID, how their families have been affected, and discuss how treatment options for ME/CFS may have implications for Long COVID in their recent interview on the “Paradigms” podcast.⁶

Drs. Friedman and Maughan discuss the importance of classifying Long COVID, ME/CFS, Lyme disease, and other similar chronic conditions as PAPIS for the advancement of research, improving clinical care and finding cures.  The PAPIS classification is more fully discussed in a recent journal article.⁷

COVID-19 is an initial respiratory infection caused by SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus discovered in 2019. According to the CDC, COVID spreads when an infected person breathes out droplets or particles.⁸  You may become infected by breathing in those droplets or particles, having droplets land on your eyes, nose or mouth, or touching your eyes, nose or mouth when the virus is on your hands.  Symptoms can range from mild to severe. Some people may infect others without realizing it because not all who are infected have symptoms.⁹

Long COVID is defined as the lingering symptoms following COVID-19 that are known to last weeks or months.   However, it is too early to know the long-term outlook for this disease.¹⁰   “Long COVID” can be experienced by anyone who has had COVID-19, even if their illness was mild, or they were free of symptoms, and the symptoms of Long COVID may not appear for weeks after infection.

Long COVID symptoms and their similarities to other chronic illnesses are having a dramatic impact on the funding of chronic disease research which has long been neglected. It appears that the Coronavirus pandemic, and the unanticipated Long COVID consequence is now breathing new life into the challenge of finding better treatment options for chronic illness.¹¹

NOTES 

1. U.S. COVID-19 Statistics — https://covidusa.net/
2. “How Many People Get ‘Long COVID?” — https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211013114112.htm
3. Friedman KJ, Murovska M, Pheby DFH, Zalewski P. — “Our Evolving Understanding of ME/CFS” — Medicina, 2021 — https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/57/3/200\
4. Dr. Ken Friedman, Ph.D. — Associate Professor of Medicine, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
5. Dr. David Maughan, Ph.D. — Research Professor, University of Vermont College of Medicine
6. Paradigms Podcast: Dr. Ken Friedman and Dr. David Maugham — “ME/CFS and Long Haul Covid Similarities and Ramifications” — https://paradigms.life/2022/dr-ken-friedman-and-dr-david-maughan-me-cfs-and-long-haul-covid-similarities-and-ramifications/
7. Friedman KJ, Murovska M, Pheby DFH, Zalewski P. — “Our Evolving Understanding of ME/CFS” — Medicina. 2021; 57(3):200 — https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57030200
8. “How COVID-19 Spreads” — https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html
9. “Symptoms of COVID-19” — https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
10. Raveendran, A. V., Jayadevan, R., & Sashidharan, S. (2021) — “Long COVID: An overview” — Diabetes & metabolic syndrome, 15(3), 869–875 — https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2021.04.007
11. “How long COVID sheds light on other mysterious (and lonely) chronic illnesses” (NPR) —https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/02/28/1083458296/long-covid-autoimmune-meghan-orourke-invisible-kingdom