Posted on Sep 9, 2023
Unraveling long COVID: Here's what scientists who study the illness want to find out
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/09/ [login to see] /long-covid-causes-treatment-research
For people suffering from long COVID's often disabling symptoms, including intense fatigue, breathing troubles, cognitive issues and heart palpitations, the list of scientific unknowns may sound defeating. There's still no validated treatment or diagnostic test specifically for the condition, although there are many candidates.
Clinicians who treat long COVID are acutely aware of the unsettled nature of the field. "You do sort of feel like you're out in the wilderness," says Dr. Rasika Karnik, medical director of UChicago Medicine's post-COVID clinic.
Karnik first began seeing long COVID patients in the fall of 2020. There's more information to work with now, she says, but doctors' approach still comes down to treating individual symptoms, rather than the underlying cause of the illness. "It's hard to look a patient in the eyes and say 'we're not quite sure yet' and to keep repeating that," she says.
For people suffering from long COVID's often disabling symptoms, including intense fatigue, breathing troubles, cognitive issues and heart palpitations, the list of scientific unknowns may sound defeating. There's still no validated treatment or diagnostic test specifically for the condition, although there are many candidates.
Clinicians who treat long COVID are acutely aware of the unsettled nature of the field. "You do sort of feel like you're out in the wilderness," says Dr. Rasika Karnik, medical director of UChicago Medicine's post-COVID clinic.
Karnik first began seeing long COVID patients in the fall of 2020. There's more information to work with now, she says, but doctors' approach still comes down to treating individual symptoms, rather than the underlying cause of the illness. "It's hard to look a patient in the eyes and say 'we're not quite sure yet' and to keep repeating that," she says.
Unraveling long COVID: Here's what scientists who study the illness want to find out
Posted from npr.org
Science
Medical
Health
Posted 9 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Clinicians who treat long COVID are acutely aware of the unsettled nature of the field. "You do sort of feel like you're out in the wilderness," says Dr. Rasika Karnik, medical director of UChicago Medicine's post-COVID clinic.
Karnik first began seeing long COVID patients in the fall of 2020. There's more information to work with now, she says, but doctors' approach still comes down to treating individual symptoms, rather than the underlying cause of the illness. "It's hard to look a patient in the eyes and say 'we're not quite sure yet' and to keep repeating that," she says.
But researchers are making progress in the field, and they presented their recent findings at one of the first major gatherings dedicated to sharing emerging evidence about the possible root cause of long COVID and implications for treatment.
"I know there's been a lot of frustration that there haven't been faster answers," says Dr. Catherine Blish, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and one of the organizers of the conference, held by the nonprofit Keystone Symposia in Santa Fe, N.M., in late August."...
..."Clinicians who treat long COVID are acutely aware of the unsettled nature of the field. "You do sort of feel like you're out in the wilderness," says Dr. Rasika Karnik, medical director of UChicago Medicine's post-COVID clinic.
Karnik first began seeing long COVID patients in the fall of 2020. There's more information to work with now, she says, but doctors' approach still comes down to treating individual symptoms, rather than the underlying cause of the illness. "It's hard to look a patient in the eyes and say 'we're not quite sure yet' and to keep repeating that," she says.
But researchers are making progress in the field, and they presented their recent findings at one of the first major gatherings dedicated to sharing emerging evidence about the possible root cause of long COVID and implications for treatment.
"I know there's been a lot of frustration that there haven't been faster answers," says Dr. Catherine Blish, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and one of the organizers of the conference, held by the nonprofit Keystone Symposia in Santa Fe, N.M., in late August."...
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A lot of pain out there Chip. Besides evaluating this condition they need to be putting the vaccinations and boosters through the regular approval process. There could be a connection. They can rule nothing out until they get a handle on what we’ve been putting into our bodies.
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SGT Mary G.
SFC (Join to see) Sort of surprised nothing about correlating to vaccinated or not was mentioned. Wondering if there is any approval process occurring, or if it stopped when usage started.
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SFC (Join to see)
SGT Mary G. - We won't know anything until the Administration decides what they want to tell us. The Biden Administration is least transparent Administration since President Obama’s.
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