Multiple research teams are also studying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a potential treatment. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and co-author of the recent review, says he’s also encouraged by preliminary data on stimulation of the vagus nerve, which helps control unconscious actions like breathing and heart rate, to ease certain symptoms. Antihistamines have also been shown in small studies to reduce some Long COVID symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog, and an inability to exercise, as have blood-thinning drugs.ĭr. These tools include an energy-rationing strategy known as pacing, the anti-inflammatory drug low-dose naltrexone, and beta blockers to slow heart rate and lower blood pressure. ![]() Some tools used to treat people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, a post-viral condition that shares key symptoms with Long COVID (including extreme fatigue and crashes after exertion), may also be effective for people with post-COVID complications, according to an article published in Nature Reviews Microbiology in January. Instead of trying to find a single drug that can treat all of Long COVID’s 200-plus potential symptoms, some research teams are zeroing in on specific symptoms, or groups of them, in hopes of finding targeted therapies. One person might have debilitating fatigue and brain fog while another could have gastrointestinal issues or nervous-system dysfunction. Long COVID is difficult to treat, at least in part because the disease takes many forms. Read More: People Are Far Less Likely to Get Long COVID After Omicron, Study Finds Some researchers are also studying whether Paxlovid can treat Long COVID symptoms-an important question, since there is still no proven cure for Long COVID. (Ensitrelvir, another antiviral drug that is authorized in Japan but not the U.S., may also reduce the risk of developing Long COVID when taken shortly after testing positive, its manufacturer announced in February.) One study, which was posted online in late 2022 but had not been peer-reviewed, found that people who took Paxlovid within five days of testing positive for COVID-19 had a 26% lower risk of developing Long COVID, compared to an untreated control group. Other recent studies have also suggested that Paxlovid, an antiviral drug used to prevent severe COVID-19 among high-risk patients, may help prevent Long COVID in a similar way. If that’s true, Bramante says, metformin’s antiviral properties might help clear it from the body. Some experts believe Long COVID is caused by remnants of the virus lingering in the body. In the future, Bramante says, researchers should also study whether metformin can treat existing Long COVID symptoms. Someone could likely “get metformin within a day of knowing they have COVID.” ![]() “It’s probably in every pharmacy in the world,” Bramante says. A failing treatment can be dropped without ending the entire trial and “if something promising comes on the horizon, we can plug it in.Bramante says she was pleasantly surprised by how well metformin seemed to prevent Long COVID, especially when taken right away, although more research is required to confirm the findings. Unlike typical experiments that test one treatment at a time, these more flexible “platform studies” will let NIH add additional potential therapies on a rolling basis. The trials are enrolling 300 to 900 adult participants for now but have the potential to grow. ![]() The other will target problems with the autonomic nervous system - which controls unconscious functions like breathing and heartbeat - including the disorder called POTS.Ī more controversial study of exercise intolerance and fatigue also is planned, with NIH seeking input from some patient groups worried that exercise may do more harm than good for certain long COVID sufferers. One will test treatments for sleep problems. Two additional studies will open in the coming months. They include Posit Science Corp.’s BrainHQ cognitive training program, another called PASC-Cognitive Recovery by New York City’s Mount Sinai Health System, and a Soterix Medical device that electrically stimulates brain circuits. Treatments for “brain fog” and other cognitive problems.
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