#Resia Pretorius

[didanawisgi]

A central role for amyloid fibrin microclots in long COVID/PASC: origins and therapeutic implications

Abstract

Post-acute sequelae of COVID (PASC), usually referred to as ‘Long COVID’ (a phenotype of COVID-19), is a relatively frequent consequence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, in which symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue, ‘brain fog’, tissue damage, inflammation, and coagulopathies (dysfunctions of the blood coagulation system) persist long after the initial infection. It bears similarities to other post-viral syndromes, and to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Many regulatory health bodies still do not recognize this syndrome as a separate disease entity, and refer to it under the broad terminology of ‘COVID’, although its demographics are quite different from those of acute COVID-19. A few years ago, we discovered that fibrinogen in blood can clot into an anomalous ‘amyloid’ form of fibrin that (like other β-rich amyloids and prions) is relatively resistant to proteolysis (fibrinolysis). The result, as is strongly manifested in platelet-poor plasma (PPP) of individuals with Long COVID, is extensive fibrin amyloid microclots that can persist, can entrap other proteins, and that may lead to the production of various autoantibodies. These microclots are more-or-less easily measured in PPP with the stain thioflavin T and a simple fluorescence microscope. Although the symptoms of Long COVID are multifarious, we here argue that the ability of these fibrin amyloid microclots (fibrinaloids) to block up capillaries, and thus to limit the passage of red blood cells and hence O2 exchange, can actually underpin the majority of these symptoms. Consistent with this, in a preliminary report, it has been shown that suitable and closely monitored ‘triple’ anticoagulant therapy that leads to the removal of the microclots also removes the other symptoms. Fibrin amyloid microclots represent a novel and potentially important target for both the understanding and treatment of Long COVID and related disorders.

[longhaulerbear]

Resia Pretorius Ph.d. has been calling attention to the dark, misshapen, gunky microclots and related problems (damaged platelets, blood vessel issues, and iron dysregulation) she’s been finding in chronic diseases for years. These clots are apparently hard for the body to break down and may be impeding blood flows to the issues.

Over the past couple of years, though, with at least six papers under their belts, she and Douglas Kell have been publishing furiously on their findings in long COVID. Last year they published the results of a small clinical trial using their multipronged approach. Eight months or so later they’re back with more results from more patients (91).

As before, their triple therapy included Dual Antiplatelet Therapy (DAPT) (Clopidogrel 75 mg/aspirin 75 mg) once a day, plus direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) (Apixiban) 5 mg twice a day, and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) (e.g., pantoprazole 40 mg/day for gastric protection) was used over 3-4 weeks.

The symptom assessments seemed pretty rudimentary but the results were good. Symptoms such as fatigue, sleep, and cognitive problems reportedly resolved in many patients and when asked about their “global health” approximately 50% of the participants stated that they were at the very least “better” and had received “a definite improvement that has made a real and worthwhile difference”;

The authors warned that this protocol should only be taken under the close guidance of a medical professional. Side effects were mostly minimal, however. Out of 91 participants, 75 reported bruising, 5 reported minor nosebleeds, 2 increased menstrual bleeding, and one person had a gastrointestinal bleed that required hospitalization and a 2-unit blood transfusion. The authors believed that the “relatively low bleeding risk” was due to the fact a hypercoagulable state was present that needed to be addressed.

Apparently, because it took longer to treat the longer-duration patients, the authors also warned that delaying these treatments might “prolong the duration of pharmacotherapy and also increase the likelihood of permanent hypoxic tissue damage”. (Ouch!).

They strongly urged that large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with objective endpoints be done as quickly as possible.

The potentially good news is that the body will slowly remove the microclots. That means that if they can stop them from forming in the first place, normal blood flows should eventually resume and healing should take place.

They also proposed that when long-COVID or ME/CFS patients rest, they build up “a cellular ‘reservoir’” that helps them feel better. When they exert themselves, that oxygen reservoir becomes depleted – leading to a “crash”.

They also proposed that the autonomic nervous system issues in these diseases are caused by damage to the blood vessels.

Their treatment approach has yet to be tested in ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, or postural orthostatic intolerance syndrome (POTS). All three diseases, however, show evidence of clotting, platelet activation, and/or blood vessel issues.

A large placebo-controlled, randomized trial is clearly the next step

[newsnoshonline]

Cosa causa il COVID lungo? Si crea un caso per gli anticorpi canaglia Anticorpi e COVID lungo: una possibile connessione Un recente studio ha evidenziato che gli anticorpi isolati da persone affette da COVID lungo potrebbero aumentare la sensibilità al dolore e ridurre il movimento nei topi a cui vengono trasferiti. Questi risultati sollevano l’ipotesi che gli anticorpi possano contribuire ai sintomi persistenti del COVID lungo. L’importanza della ricerca Secondo l’immunologa Resia Pretorius, l’analisi degli anticorpi potrebbe fornire nuove chiavi per comprendere meglio il COVID a lungo termine e individuare possibili terapie. Tuttavia, ulteriori studi sono necessari per confermare tali conclusioni e approfondire il meccanismo attraverso cui gli anticorpi influenzano i sintomi del

[joseywritesng]

Small, menacing micro-clots may explain lung COVID symptoms

Small, menacing micro-clots may explain lung COVID symptoms

SOURCES: Hannah Davis, founding member and researcher, Patient-Led Research Collaborative. Etheresia (Resia) Pretorius, PhD, Head of Department and Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Douglas Kell, PhD, Chair of Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Liverpool, UK Michael…

[partisan-by-default]

“A recent study in my lab revealed that there is significant microclot formation in the blood of both acute COVID-19 and long COVID patients,” Resia Pretorius, head of the science department at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, wrote Wednesday in an op-ed.

Pretorius writes that healthy bodies are typically able to efficiently break down blood clots through a process called fibrinolysis. But, when looking at blood from long COVID patients, “persistent microclots are resistant to the body’s own fibrinolytic processes.”

Pretorius’ team in an analysis over the summer found high levels of inflammatory molecules “trapped” in the persistent microclots observed in long COVID patients, which may be preventing the breakdown of clots.

Because of that, cells in the body’s tissues may not be getting enough oxygen to sustain regular bodily functions, a condition known as cellular hypoxia.

[jhave]

Could microclots help explain the mystery of long Covid? | Resia Pretorius | The Guardian

[othert]

Treating microclots (which need specialized tests to be found as well as specific monitored medication to treat) is looking promising

You mentioned long covid, is there any chance you can talk more about that? I have been sick for almost a year and it might be long covid...

I’m sorry to hear you’re dealing with that. To date, this is my most comprehensive post about it. https://thebibliosphere.tumblr.com/post/634329974445359104/covid-long-haulers-are-organizing-and-demanding

I’ve been watching for any new research, but for now the advice for many still remains the same. Rest is paramount, and doctors that are telling patients to push themselves and exercise through post-viral fatigue are doing irreparable harm.

Also look into the ME/CFS community. Most of us (I was diagnosed, but now we don’t know if it’s entirely accurate because of new and complicated diagnoses, still in my file with a ? next to it ) have been sick for years following a viral illness and have been largely ignored until now by the medical establishment. Still, there are resources and support groups there, and they've been highly active in aiding research for Long Covid.

If you’re dealing with mast cell instability following Covid (random new allergies, hives, stomach upsets from foods you used to tolerate) I’ve got a lot of info in my MCAS tags that might be useful too.

I hope some of that helps.

[classyfoxdestiny]

Omicron variant increases concerns about long COVID and its causes #صحت

New Post has been published on https://mediaboxup.com/omicron-variant-increases-concerns-about-long-covid-and-its-causes/

Omicron variant increases concerns about long COVID and its causes

More than a year after a bout with COVID-19, Rebekah Hogan still suffers from severe brain fog, pain and fatigue that leave her unable to do her nursing job or handle household activities.

Long COVID has her questioning her worth as a wife and mother.

“Is this permanent? Is this the new norm?’’ said the 41-year-old Latham, New York, woman, whose three children and husband also have signs of the condition. “I want my life back.’’

More than a third of COVID-19 survivors by some estimates will develop such lingering problems. Now, with omicron sweeping across the globe, scientists are racing to pinpoint the cause of the bedeviling condition and find treatments before a potential explosion in long COVID cases.

Could it be an autoimmune disorder? That could help explain why long COVID-19 disproportionately affects women, who are more likely than men to develop autoimmune diseases. Could microclots be the cause of symptoms ranging from memory lapses to discolored toes? That could make sense, since abnormal blood clotting can occur in COVID-19.

As these theories and others are tested, there is fresh evidence that vaccination may reduce the chances of developing long COVID.

It’s too soon to know whether people infected with the highly contagious omicron variant will develop the mysterious constellation of symptoms, usually diagnosed many weeks after the initial illness. But some experts think a wave of long COVID is likely and say doctors need to be prepared for it.

With $1 billion from Congress, the National Institutes of Health is funding a vast array of research on the condition. And clinics devoted to studying and treating it are popping up around the world, affiliated with places such as Stanford University in California and University College London.

‘STEALTH’ OMICRON VARIANT BA.2 CIRCULATING IN ALMOST HALF OF US, BUT CDC EXERCISES CAUTION: REPORT

WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?

Momentum is building around a few key theories.

One is that the infection or remnants of the virus persist past the initial illness, triggering inflammation that leads to long COVID.

Another is that latent viruses in the body, such as the Epstein-Barr virus that causes mononucleosis, are reactivated. A recent study in the journal Cell pointed to Epstein-Barr in the blood as one of four possible risk factors, which also include pre-existing Type 2 diabetes and the levels of coronavirus RNA and certain antibodies in the blood. Those findings must be confirmed with more research.

A third theory is that autoimmune responses develop after acute COVID-19.

In a normal immune response, viral infections activate antibodies that fight invading virus proteins. But sometimes in the aftermath, antibodies remain revved up and mistakenly attack normal cells. That phenomenon is thought to play a role in autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis.

Justyna Fert-Bober and Dr. Susan Cheng were among researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who found that some people who have had COVID-19, including cases without symptoms, have a variety of these elevated “autoantibodies” up to six months after recovering. Some are the same ones found in people with autoimmune diseases.

Another possibility is that tiny clots play a role in long COVID. Many COVID-19 patients develop elevated levels of inflammatory molecules that promote abnormal clotting. That can lead to blood clots throughout the body that can cause strokes, heart attacks and dangerous blockages in the legs and arms.

In her lab at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, scientist Resia Pretorius has found microclots in blood samples from patients with COVID-19 and in those who later developed long COVID. She also found elevated levels of proteins in blood plasma that prevented the normal breakdown of these clots.

She believes that these clotting abnormalities persist in many patients after an initial coronavirus infection and that they reduce oxygen distribution to cells and tissue throughout the body, leading to most if not all symptoms that have been linked to long COVID.  

IT CAN HIT NEARLY ANYONE

While there’s no firm list of symptoms that define the condition, the most common include fatigue, problems with memory and thinking, loss of taste and smell, shortness of breath, insomnia, anxiety and depression.

Some of these symptoms may first appear during an initial infection but linger or recur a month or more later. Or new ones may develop, lasting for weeks, months or over a year.

Because so many of the symptoms occur with other illnesses, some scientists question whether the coronavirus is always the trigger. Researchers hope their work will provide definitive answers.

Long COVID affects adults of all ages as well as children. Research shows it is more prevalent among those who were hospitalized, but also strikes a significant portion who weren’t.

Retired flight attendant Jacki Graham’s bout with COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic wasn’t bad enough to put her in the hospital. But months later, she experienced breathlessness and a racing heart. She couldn’t taste or smell. Her blood pressure shot up.

In the fall of 2020, she became so fatigued that her morning yoga would send her back to bed.

“I’m an early riser, so I’d get up and push myself, but then I was done for the day,” said Graham, 64, of Studio City, California. “Six months ago, I would have told you COVID has ruined my life.”

Hogan, the New York nurse, also wasn’t hospitalized with COVID-19 but has been debilitated since her diagnosis. Her husband, a disabled veteran, and children ages 9, 13 and 15 fell ill soon after and were sick with fever, stomach pains and weakness for about a month. Then all seemed to get a little better until new symptoms appeared.

Hogan’s doctors think autoimmune abnormalities and a pre-existing connective tissue disorder that causes joint pain may have made her prone to developing the condition.

IF OMICRON INCREASES GLOBAL IMMUNITY, MORE MANAGEABLE COVID PHASE COULD BE NEXT: EXPERTS

  next

Nancy Rose, center in mirror, speaks with her mother, Amy Russell, right, who both contracted COVID-19 in 2021, in their dining room surrounded by pictures of relatives and family, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in Port Jefferson, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) ( )

  CDC DATA SHOWS OMICRON ACCOUNTS FOR 99.9% OF NEW CASES AS EXPERTS INVESTIGATE SUB-VARIANT

POTENTIAL ANSWERS

There are no treatments specifically approved for long COVID, though some patients get relief from painkillers, drugs used for other conditions, and physical therapy. But more help may be on the horizon.

Immunobiologist Akiko Iwasaki is studying the tantalizing possibility that COVID-19 vaccination might reduce long COVID symptoms. Her team at Yale University is collaborating with a patient group called Survivor Corps on a study that involves vaccinating previously unvaccinated long COVID patients as a possible treatment.

Iwasaki, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which supports The Associated Press’ Health and Science Department, said she is doing this study because patient groups have reported improvement in some people’s long COVID symptoms after they got their shots.

Study participant Nancy Rose, 67, of Port Jefferson, New York, said many of her symptoms waned after she got vaccinated, though she still has bouts of fatigue and memory loss.

Two recently released studies, one from the U.S. and one from Israel, offer preliminary evidence that being vaccinated before getting COVID-19 could help prevent the lingering illness or at least reduce its severity. Both were done before omicron emerged.

Neither has been published in a peer-reviewed journal, but outside experts say the results are encouraging.

In the Israeli study, about two-thirds of participants received one or two Pfizer shots; the others were unvaccinated. Those who had received two shots were at least half as likely to report fatigue, headache, muscle weakness or pain and other common long COVID symptoms as the unvaccinated group.  

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

With few clear answers yet, the future is murky for patients.

Many, like Graham, see improvement over time. She sought help through a long COVID program at Cedars-Sinai, enrolled in a study there in April 2021, and was vaccinated and boosted.

Today, she said, her blood pressure is normal, and her sense of smell and energy level are getting closer to pre-COVID levels. Still, she wound up retiring early because of her ordeal.

Hogan still struggles with symptoms that include agonizing nerve pain and “spaghetti legs,’’ or limbs that suddenly become limp and unable to bear weight, a condition that also affects her 13-year-old son.

Some scientists worry that long COVID in certain patients might become a form of chronic fatigue syndrome, a poorly understood, long-lasting condition that has no cure or approved treatment.

One thing’s for sure, some experts say: Long COVID will have a huge effect on individuals, health care systems and economies around the world, costing many billions of dollars.

Even with insurance, patients can be out thousands of dollars at a time when they’re too sick to work. Graham, for example, said she paid about $6,000 out of pocket for things like scans, labs, doctor visits and chiropractic care.

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Pretorius, the scientist in South Africa, said there is real worry things could get worse.

“So many people are losing their livelihoods, their homes. They can’t work anymore,” she said. “Long COVID will probably have a more severe impact on our economy than acute COVID.”

Source link

[didanawisgi]

Prevalence of symptoms, comorbidities, fibrin amyloid microclots and platelet pathology in individuals with Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC)

Abstract

Background

Fibrin(ogen) amyloid microclots and platelet hyperactivation previously reported as a novel finding in South African patients with the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) and Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), might form a suitable set of foci for the clinical treatment of the symptoms of Long COVID/PASC. A Long COVID/PASC Registry was subsequently established as an online platform where patients can report Long COVID/PASC symptoms and previous comorbidities.

Methods

In this study, we report on the comorbidities and persistent symptoms, using data obtained from 845 South African Long COVID/PASC patients. By using a previously published scoring system for fibrin amyloid microclots and platelet pathology, we also analysed blood samples from 80 patients, and report the presence of significant fibrin amyloid microclots and platelet pathology in all cases.

Results

Hypertension, high cholesterol levels (dyslipidaemia), cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were found to be the most important comorbidities. The gender balance (70% female) and the most commonly reported Long COVID/PASC symptoms (fatigue, brain fog, loss of concentration and forgetfulness, shortness of breath, as well as joint and muscle pains) were comparable to those reported elsewhere. These findings confirmed that our sample was not atypical. Microclot and platelet pathologies were associated with Long COVID/PASC symptoms that persisted after the recovery from acute COVID-19.

Conclusions

Fibrin amyloid microclots that block capillaries and inhibit the transport of O2 to tissues, accompanied by platelet hyperactivation, provide a ready explanation for the symptoms of Long COVID/PASC. Removal and reversal of these underlying endotheliopathies provide an important treatment option that urgently warrants controlled clinical studies to determine efficacy in patients with a diversity of comorbidities impacting on SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity. We suggest that our platelet and clotting grading system provides a simple and cost-effective diagnostic method for early detection of Long COVID/PASC as a major determinant of effective treatment, including those focusing on reducing clot burden and platelet hyperactivation.

[evisionpress]

Omicron and long Covid: Scientists have theories on the cause and who’s at risk

Even as the number of new Covid-19 cases in the US is dropping, hundreds of thousands of Americans are still testing positive every day. More than 28 million new cases have been reported since Omicron emerged in the US just two months ago, and the variant now drives 99.9 percent of cases, as of January 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thanks to vaccines, boosters, and increasingly available treatments, most people who get infected today won’t end up in the hospital or die. A big question, however, looms over the survivors: What about long Covid? Long Covid is a condition that arises after acute infection and often includes shortness of breath, fatigue, and “brain fog” but can also involve a wide range of debilitating problems in the heart, brain, lungs, gut, and other organs. According to the World Health Organization’s working definition, long Covid usually occurs three months after symptomatic Covid-19 begins and lasts for at least two months. Sometimes, the symptoms just never go away after the initial infection. Occasionally, they appear months after recovery or after an asymptomatic case. This means that if you’ve recovered from Covid-19, you’re not necessarily in the clear. No one knows exactly how many people have or had long Covid. Estimates so far are “wildly disparate” in part because researchers define the condition differently and because the people seeking care may only be a small portion of those affected, said Nahid Bhadelia, an associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine. Studies on the conservative end have found that 10 to 20 percent of Covid-19 survivors get long Covid, while others report 50 percent. Scientists have proposed numerous hypotheses to explain long Covid’s myriad symptoms since research began in earnest after the first wave of cases in 2020. Early suspects included a weakened immune system, widespread inflammation, and even low sex hormone levels. There are no firm answers yet, but there’s now greater consensus among researchers about the two leading theories and the ways they may be connected. Scientists also have a better understanding of the people who are susceptible to long Covid. While many used to think that the condition only affected people with severe illness, patients now range from teens to older adults, some of whom had only mild or even asymptomatic illness, said Kathleen Bell, a professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at UT Southwestern Medical Center, on a recent press call. Early research is pointing to factors that may raise a person’s risk of long Covid, such as low levels of certain antibodies, reactivated viruses in the bloodstream, and existing conditions such as diabetes or asthma. Amid pressure from patients and concerns that the vast numbers of omicron infections might drive a new wave of long Covid, researchers around the world are racing to understand what causes the condition and how it might be diagnosed and treated. “We are really working day and night,” Resia Pretorius, a professor of physiological sciences at Stellenbosch University in South Africa whose research is explaining the role of blood clots in long Covid, told me. It’s too early to predict an omicron wave of long Covid, but scientists are cautious Scientists I spoke to agreed that it’s too early to know whether omicron will lead to a new wave of long Covid because less than three months have passed since the variant emerged. But David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, is erring on the side of caution. “Right now, we have no reason to think any differently about long Covid.” Whether different variants change the likelihood of developing long Covid is a fundamental question among researchers, Michael Peluso, an infectious diseases doctor who co-leads a long Covid research effort at the University of California San Francisco, told me. Severe initial Covid-19 infection, he noted, tends to correlate with who is at risk, so “it’s encouraging that early data suggest that omicron might be less severe, but obviously not enough time has passed.” Still, long Covid can develop after mild or even asymptomatic Covid-19, too. “If you say omicron’s mild, it doesn’t say anything about long Covid,” Amy Proal, a microbiologist at the PolyBio Research Foundation, told me. “We don’t even know how mild omicron is.” The WHO has pushed back against calling omicron “mild,” but it seems to result in less severe illness, especially among the vaccinated. This may be because it’s better at evading the immune system, which isn’t a good thing because it raises the possibility that the virus is remaining in the body, Proal added. Even if long Covid turns out to be less common among people who have been infected with omicron, the sheer number of cases right now means that millions may still develop the condition. “Even if it’s rare,” said Peluso, “it will affect a lot of people.” “We’re worried,” said Proal. “It’s not being communicated to the public as one of the things to take into consideration in how to live these days. Not as much as it should be.” Vaccination appears to offer some protection against long Covid, but it’s not clear how much. It certainly helps by preventing serious illness in the first place, and it may help clear the virus before it can lodge in the body for the long term. It also spurs the immune system to specifically target the virus, rather than raise defenses throughout the whole body, which could cause collateral damage elsewhere.

People stand in line at the mass vaccination site at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California, on February 5, 2021.Amy Osborne/AFP via Getty Images An encouraging recent preprint from Israel shows that fully vaccinated people who had breakthrough Covid-19 between March 2020 and November 2021 report fewer long Covid symptoms than unvaccinated people who were infected, suggesting “that some ability to fight off the virus is helpful for long Covid as it is for acute Covid,” Leora Horwitz, director for the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science at NYU Langone Health, told me. The immune system likely plays a leading role in long Covid The sheer range of symptoms reported by people with long Covid — more than 200 across 10 groups of organ systems, according to one patient-led survey — makes uncovering their biological origins a gargantuan task. There are likely several subtypes of long Covid, each with its own cluster of symptoms and cause. “We’re not talking about a monolithic, single entity,” said Horwitz. Scientists have proposed many explanations for long Covid, but several I spoke to agreed that there are now two leading theories: that symptoms are driven by the immune system or by the persistence of the virus in the body. Importantly, these aren’t mutually exclusive, and it’s likely that both factors are at play and interconnected, together with a number of other mechanisms. The immune theory suggests that Covid-19 turns the immune system against the body. This could explain symptoms like racing heart, dizziness, weakness, and microclots in the blood, said Putrino, whose research focuses on the former. A large proportion of his long Covid patients seem to have dysautonomia, a condition that interferes with processes like balance, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and digestion. With Yale University immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, Putrino is studying the blood of long-haulers for evidence of an abnormal immune response that might be throwing the autonomic nervous system off track. Flurries of microclots — tiny blood clots — observed in the blood of people with acute and long Covid may be fueling the immune system’s reaction. Clots in healthy people usually break down easily, but those in people with long Covid resist digestion and continue to drift throughout the circulation. Pretorius’s team has discovered inflammatory molecules concealed inside these microclots that she thinks may spur the production of autoantibodies. Having clots in circulation can cause the whole vascular system to become inflamed, ultimately choking off the supply of oxygen to cells and leading to a range of issues throughout the body. ��Many of the symptoms that are related to long Covid can actually be traced back to a general oxygen deprivation state,” she said. One of the primary functions of the immune system is to keep pathogens in line — including those that live inside our bodies, like dormant viruses and normally benign gut bacteria. When it isn’t working properly, these pathogens can act up and cause illness. “Patients might clear itself from tissue, but immune dysregulation might allow other viruses and pathogens to reactivate and then drive chronic systems,” said Proal. Epstein-Barr virus, for example, seems to be reactivated in people with Covid-19, and scientists are studying whether the herpes viruses and the common parasite Toxoplasma do the same. It’s possible, too, that the reactivation of these pathogens contributes to autoimmunity. Research recently published in Science posited that prior infection with the Epstein-Barr virus drives multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease, by spurring production of autoantibodies. Proal suggested that a similar mechanism could be at play in long Covid. “What it really means is that overall, autoantibodies can be generated as part of the immune system response to infection,” she said. Lingering virus may also be to blame Proal is also investigating theories linked to viral persistence, the other overarching long Covid theory. The virus can remain in the body and brain long after acute infection, and its genetic material can persist up to 230 days after symptoms arise, as a recent National Institutes of Health preprint found. Lingering virus is often found not in the blood but in the tissues, an important consideration for researchers studying and developing diagnostic tools for long Covid, Proal and others emphasized. It’s not fully understood what these so-called “viral reservoirs” do in the body. Proal’s previous work on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome), an illness that has substantial similarity with long Covid, suggests that persistent virus — Epstein-Barr virus, in the case of ME/CFS — can wreak havoc on the body long after acute infection. In long Covid, viral reservoirs could continue to injure tissues directly. They may leak viral proteins into the bloodstream, where they can spur the formation of the aforementioned microclots and activate the immune system, leading to inflammation and further damage. Or they may do nothing at all. One theory is that inflammation in tissues caused by persistent virus can trigger inflammation in the brain via the far-reaching vagus nerve, which runs the length of the spine and connects to the brainstem. A recent preprint from a team co-led by Yale’s Iwasaki showed that mice with mild Covid-19 had activated brain microglia cells and higher levels of some inflammatory molecules. One of those molecules has been observed at high levels in the brains of long-haulers experiencing cognitive issues like brain fog. “You can start to see a scope of connected symptoms that can really make someone ill,” said Proal. Like the symptoms of long Covid, the research is all over the place. “It’s a mess — anyone who says they get it is lying,” said Putrino. But patterns in the data are steadily emerging, which many of the researchers I spoke to attributed to collaboration among long Covid research teams and patient advocacy groups. Organizations like the Long Covid Alliance and Survivor Corps have been instrumental in helping recruit participants and lobby for much-needed funding since research on the condition began, they said. Recent research identifying the people who are most at risk is especially promising. A small study recently published in Cell named four factors that may put people at higher risk for long Covid: higher levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the blood in the early stages of infection, Type 2 diabetes, reactivated Epstein-Barr virus (which infects over 90 percent of the global population), and the presence of certain autoantibodies — which target the body’s own cells as if they were intruders. Other risk factors could include low levels of antibodies called IgM and IgG3 and preexisting asthma, as a recent study in Nature Communications suggested. Bell cautioned, however, that such factors are for “research purposes only” and shouldn’t be viewed as metrics for diagnosis. Fortunately, many researchers studying the basic science of long Covid already have treatment — and diagnosis — in mind. Putrino said that 70 to 80 percent of his patients respond well to intensive autonomic rehabilitation therapy, which involves coaching to improve breathing followed by physical exercises. With RECOVER, an NIH-funded nationwide study on long Covid, Horwitz is developing a list of medications and vaccines to test and put through clinical trials. “I am quite optimistic that there will be things that will be helpful,” she said. Pretorius is developing a diagnostic tool for long Covid, and she’s trying to get funding for a clinical trial involving clot-busting drugs. “We’re not going to rest,” she said. Yasmin Tayag is a science editor and writer. She has written for the Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Guardian, and she was previously the lead editor of the Medium Coronavirus Blog. Read the full article

[behealthy99]

Omicron variant amps up concerns about long coronavirus and its causes

New Post has been published on https://behealthy99.com/omicron-variant-amps-up-concerns-about-long-coronavirus-and-its-causes/

Omicron variant amps up concerns about long coronavirus and its causes

More than a year after a bout with COVID-19, Rebekah Hogan still suffers from severe brain fog, pain and fatigue that leave her unable to do her nursing job or handle household activities.

Long COVID has her questioning her worth as a wife and mother.

Is this permanent? Is this the new norm?” said the 41-year-old Latham, New York, woman, whose three children and husband also have signs of the condition. I want my life back.”

More than a third of COVID-19 survivors by some estimates will develop such lingering problems. Now, with omicron sweeping across the globe, scientists are racing to pinpoint the cause of the bedeviling condition and find treatments before a potential explosion in long COVID cases.

Could it be an autoimmune disorder? That could help explain why long COVID-19 disproportionately affects women, who are more likely than men to develop autoimmune diseases. Could microclots be the cause of symptoms ranging from memory lapses to discolored toes? That could make sense, since abnormal blood clotting can occur in COVID-19.

As these theories and others are tested, there is fresh evidence that vaccination may reduce the chances of developing long COVID.

It’s too soon to know whether people infected with the highly contagious omicron variant will develop the mysterious constellation of symptoms, usually diagnosed many weeks after the initial illness. But some experts think a wave of long COVID is likely and say doctors need to be prepared for it.

With $1 billion from Congress, the National Institutes of Health is funding a vast array of research on the condition. And clinics devoted to studying and treating it are popping up around the world, affiliated with places such as Stanford University in California and University College London.

WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?

Momentum is building around a few key theories.

One is that the infection or remnants of the virus persist past the initial illness, triggering inflammation that leads to long COVID.

Another is that latent viruses in the body, such as the Epstein-Barr virus that causes mononucleosis, are reactivated. A recent study in the journal Cell pointed to Epstein-Barr in the blood as one of four possible risk factors, which also include pre-existing Type 2 diabetes and the levels of coronavirus RNA and certain antibodies in the blood. Those findings must be confirmed with more research.

A third theory is that autoimmune responses develop after acute COVID-19.

In a normal immune response, viral infections activate antibodies that fight invading virus proteins. But sometimes in the aftermath, antibodies remain revved up and mistakenly attack normal cells. That phenomenon is thought to play a role in autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis.

Justyna Fert-Bober and Dr. Susan Cheng were among researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who found that some people who have had COVID-19, including cases without symptoms, have a variety of these elevated autoantibodies” up to six months after recovering. Some are the same ones found in people with autoimmune diseases.

Another possibility is that tiny clots play a role in long COVID. Many COVID-19 patients develop elevated levels of inflammatory molecules that promote abnormal clotting. That can lead to blood clots throughout the body that can cause strokes, heart attacks and dangerous blockages in the legs and arms.

In her lab at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, scientist Resia Pretorius has found microclots in blood samples from patients with COVID-19 and in those who later developed long COVID. She also found elevated levels of proteins in blood plasma that prevented the normal breakdown of these clots.

She believes that these clotting abnormalities persist in many patients after an initial coronavirus infection and that they reduce oxygen distribution to cells and tissue throughout the body, leading to most if not all symptoms that have been linked to long COVID.

IT CAN HIT NEARLY ANYONE

While there’s no firm list of symptoms that define the condition, the most common include fatigue, problems with memory and thinking, loss of taste and smell, shortness of breath, insomnia, anxiety and depression.

Some of these symptoms may first appear during an initial infection but linger or recur a month or more later. Or new ones may develop, lasting for weeks, months or over a year.

Because so many of the symptoms occur with other illnesses, some scientists question whether the coronavirus is always the trigger. Researchers hope their work will provide definitive answers.

Long COVID affects adults of all ages as well as children. Research shows it is more prevalent among those who were hospitalized, but also strikes a significant portion who weren’t.

Retired flight attendant Jacki Graham’s bout with COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic wasn’t bad enough to put her in the hospital. But months later, she experienced breathlessness and a racing heart. She couldn’t taste or smell. Her blood pressure shot up.

In the fall of 2020, she became so fatigued that her morning yoga would send her back to bed.

I’m an early riser, so I’d get up and push myself, but then I was done for the day, said Graham, 64, of Studio City, California. Six months ago, I would have told you COVID has ruined my life.

Hogan, the New York nurse, also wasn’t hospitalized with COVID-19 but has been debilitated since her diagnosis. Her husband, a disabled veteran, and children ages 9, 13 and 15 fell ill soon after and were sick with fever, stomach pains and weakness for about a month. Then all seemed to get a little better until new symptoms appeared.

Hogan’s doctors think autoimmune abnormalities and a pre-existing connective tissue disorder that causes joint pain may have made her prone to developing the condition.

POTENTIAL ANSWERS

There are no treatments specifically approved for long COVID, though some patients get relief from painkillers, drugs used for other conditions, and physical therapy. But more help may be on the horizon.

Immunobiologist Akiko Iwasaki is studying the tantalizing possibility that COVID-19 vaccination might reduce long COVID symptoms. Her team at Yale University is collaborating with a patient group called Survivor Corps on a study that involves vaccinating previously unvaccinated long COVID patients as a possible treatment.

Iwasaki, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which supports The Associated Press’ Health and Science Department, said she is doing this study because patient groups have reported improvement in some people’s long COVID symptoms after they got their shots.

Study participant Nancy Rose, 67, of Port Jefferson, New York, said many of her symptoms waned after she got vaccinated, though she still has bouts of fatigue and memory loss.

Two recently released studies, one from the U.S. and one from Israel, offer preliminary evidence that being vaccinated before getting COVID-19 could help prevent the lingering illness or at least reduce its severity. Both were done before omicron emerged.

Neither has been published in a peer-reviewed journal, but outside experts say the results are encouraging.

In the Israeli study, about two-thirds of participants received one or two Pfizer shots; the others were unvaccinated. Those who had received two shots were at least half as likely to report fatigue, headache, muscle weakness or pain and other common long COVID symptoms as the unvaccinated group.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

With few clear answers yet, the future is murky for patients.

Many, like Graham, see improvement over time. She sought help through a long COVID program at Cedars-Sinai, enrolled in a study there in April 2021, and was vaccinated and boosted.

Today, she said, her blood pressure is normal, and her sense of smell and energy level are getting closer to pre-COVID levels. Still, she wound up retiring early because of her ordeal.

Hogan still struggles with symptoms that include agonizing nerve pain and spaghetti legs,” or limbs that suddenly become limp and unable to bear weight, a condition that also affects her 13-year-old son.

Some scientists worry that long COVID in certain patients might become a form of chronic fatigue syndrome, a poorly understood, long-lasting condition that has no cure or approved treatment.

One thing’s for sure, some experts say: Long COVID will have a huge effect on individuals, health care systems and economies around the world, costing many billions of dollars.

Even with insurance, patients can be out thousands of dollars at a time when they’re too sick to work. Graham, for example, said she paid about $6,000 out of pocket for things like scans, labs, doctor visits and chiropractic care.

Pretorius, the scientist in South Africa, said there is real worry things could get worse.

So many people are losing their livelihoods, their homes. They can’t work anymore,” she said. “Long COVID will probably have a more severe impact on our economy than acute COVID.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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[thedamagereporttyt]

The long terms effects of COVID have been surfacing and they are terrifying. John Iadarola and Brett Erlich break it down on The Damage Report.  Become a TDR YouTube Member: http://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport/join  Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageReportTYT/ Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport?sub_confirmation=1 Follow The Damage Report on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@thedamagereport?lang=en Follow The Damage Report on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thedamagereport/  Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport Read more here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-05/long-covid-symptoms-may-be-caused-by-micro-clots-scientists-say "Some of the symptoms of so-called long-covid, the ailments that can persist for months after a Covid-19 infection, may be caused by inflammatory molecules trapped inside tiny blood clots, a scientist at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University said.  High levels of inflammatory molecules were found in micro clots in blood samples from people with long-covid, Resia Pretorius, a researcher at the university, said in a statement on Monday. The molecules contained fibrinogen, a clotting protein, and alpha(2)-antiplasmin, which prevents the breakdown of blood clots, she said." #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks by The Damage Report

[letsjanukhan]

'Long COVID' symptoms' cause may have been uncovered in new research

‘Long COVID’ symptoms’ cause may have been uncovered in new research

Lingering COVID-19 symptoms in “long haulers” may be caused by an overload of inflammatory cells “trapped” inside insoluble microscopic blood clots, according to researchers at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.   Professor Resia Pretorius, a member of the university’s Physiological Sciences Department, made the finding with her research team while studying micro clots in blood samples of…

[scitechman]

Bacterial Cell Wall Mopping Agents Could Treat Chronic Inflammatory Diseases like Type 2 Diabetes

Bacterial Cell Wall Mopping Agents Could Treat Chronic Inflammatory Diseases like Type 2 Diabetes

Bacteria may be responsible for more than we suspect. Especially when it comes to inflammatory diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.

Prof. Resia Pretorius from Stellenbosch University (SU) in South Africa and Prof. Douglas Kell from The University of Manchester have conducted a series of studies that are drastically changing the way scientiststhink about the effect bacteria have on a number of…