What is new with long COVID
Long COVID is 1 of the top googled health issues. I would like to give you an update on the latest research. The definition of long COVID is one or a cluster of symptoms 3 months after initial infection. According to the CDC 1 in 5 Americans experience long COVID. The main persistent symptoms are respiratory, fatigue, body pain, mood swings and cognitive problems.
The risk factors for long COVID include female sex, type 2 diabetes, Epstein-Barr, and other chronic health problems. A health care problem that was revealed during the COVID pandemic was a strong social economic inequality in healthcare which caused a much higher COVID infection rate in Hispanic or Latino heritage.
There are 2 most probable causes of long COVID. There are persistent reservoirs of the COVID virus in tissues of the body and persistent fragments of the COVID virus have been found. According to the research it believed that there is an Immune dysregulation, in other words, immune system is not functioning, with changes in immune cells or exhaustion of these cells.
New research has been published October 16, 2023, in a highly regarded peer-reviewed journal Cell. The study was led by researches from the Perelman in School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine which sheds light on mechanism of how persistent inflammation after contracting COVID can cause long-term neurological symptoms. The virus or fragments of the COVID virus remain in the gut causing persistent inflammation which affects the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve connects the gut to the brain which provides information from the gut microbiota to the brain. Inflammation reduces the absorption of the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is a building block for several neurotransmitters including serotonin, which is primarily produced in the GI tract and carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body. It plays a key role in the regulation of memory, sleep, digestion, wound healing, and other functions that maintain homeostasis within the body. Serotonin is also an important regulator of the vagus nerve, a system of neurons that mediates the communication between the body and the brain.
Persistent reservoirs or fragments of the COVID virus and, it is known that there is dysregulation of the immune system, why is that the public not informed how to improve their immune system? The answer lies within lifestyle modifications. You must be tired of hearing that for me. Or a simple tablet daily of ImmuCore will provide the necessary nutrition to enhance the immune system. This can be found on this website, go to the store, and to Metagenics where you can order the supplement. My provider code is robertromanellidc.
