(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Long Covid? It Takes Guts [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-16 One of the enduring stories coming out of the COVID pandemic was the significant number of patients who continued to exhibit one or more of a panoply of perplexing symptoms. These ranged from brain fog, through persistent anosmia to far worse demons, aches, tiredness, muscle or joint pains, cardiac and respiratory issues and feverishness. An incomplete list might be found at the CDC. General symptoms (Not a Comprehensive List) Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort (also known as “post-exertional malaise”) Fever Respiratory and heart symptoms Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath Cough Chest pain Fast-beating or pounding heart (also known as heart palpitations) Neurological symptoms Difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”) Headache Sleep problems Dizziness when you stand up (lightheadedness) Pins-and-needles feelings Change in smell or taste Depression or anxiety Digestive symptoms Diarrhea Stomach pain Other symptoms Joint or muscle pain Rash Changes in menstrual cycles Full disclosure, my interest in these persistent symptoms stems in part from the fact that a family member — my young grand-niece — has, since her first bout with the disease, been one of those suffering from long COVID. As the headline says, it does take guts to work through that — especially when it hits your relatively early in life, in an environment lacking a clear explanation for what spurs the syndrome — which stymies fruitful development of worthwhile approaches to treatment in affected individuals. Well, fingers crossed, that may be changing, and guts, specifically your guts may play a role. As reported in the NY Times (free link here) there has been a potentially important improvement in our understanding of the underlying cause of some of the symptoms of long COVID. Pam Belluck writes that: Scientists Offer a New Explanation for Long Covid In some patients, remnants of the coronavirus in the gut may stifle production of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter, researchers suggest. A team of scientists is proposing a new explanation for some cases of long Covid, based on their findings that serotonin levels were lower in people with the complex condition. In their study, published on Monday in the journal Cell, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that serotonin reduction is triggered by remnants of the virus lingering in the gut. Depleted serotonin could especially explain memory problems and some neurological and cognitive symptoms of long Covid, they say. :: :: This is one of several new studies documenting distinct biological changes in the bodies of people with long Covid — offering important discoveries for a condition that takes many forms and often does not register on standard diagnostic tools like X-rays. The research could point the way toward possible treatments, including medications that boost serotonin. And the authors said the biological pathway that their research outlines could unite many of the major theories of what causes long Covid: lingering remnants of the virus, inflammation, increased blood clotting and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Hopefully the promise of this type of research bears fruit. In the case of long COVID sufferers for whom brain fog and related neurological issues form part of the set of symptoms, the potential cures might be as simple as a serotonin level boosting pill. Candidates for which already exist. There is tremendous need for effective ways to treat long Covid, and clinical trials of several treatments are underway. Dr. Levy and Dr. Thaiss said they would be starting a clinical trial to test fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor often marketed as Prozac, and possibly also tryptophan. “If we supplement serotonin or prevent the degradation of serotonin, maybe we can restore some of the vagal signals and improve memory and cognition and so on,” Dr. Levy said. For the many millions (and yes, the number of long COVID sufferers is certainly that large) a cure or simply an improvement cannot come soon enough. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/16/2199747/-Long-Covid-It-Takes-Guts?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/