Utah doctors have noticed patterns of how COVID long-haul carriers will eventually recover.

They also noticed the pattern of who is suffering.

As Intermountain Healthcare launches Utah’s second dedicated care plan for patients with “long COVID,” doctors already treating long-haul carriers will find that there are several patterns of disease progression. I say I noticed.

“I haven’t seen anyone with a long COVID vaccinated yet,” said Dr. Erie Hirschberg, a mountain emergency physician. “I’ve seen patients with long COVIDs who are trying to get rid of some of their symptoms even after being vaccinated. But I haven’t met the first person with the longest COVIDs. . “

Hirshberg has been seeing patients with “long COVID” for about two years, that is, patients who continue to have symptoms at least 2-3 months after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

In the early days of the pandemic, COVID’s “long-distance carrier” Explained frustration that made doctors believe their symptoms were related to the coronavirus.. But now there are two clinics in Utah. One is operated by the University of Utah Hospital and the other is operated by Intermountain. Patients are currently seeking help with the hundreds of long-term symptoms listed in the medical literature.

The most common are fatigue, “brain fog”, heart and lung problems. Some Utah patients describe symptoms that are so severe that they cannot walk, drive, or bathe on their own... However, doctors in the United States and Intermountain have reported symptoms ranging from hair loss and taste distortion to nerve “enthusiasm” and vision problems.

Dr. Dixie Harris, an Intermounteal emergency physician, has sought help with more serious lung problems such as pneumonia and blood clots shortly before three months after infection.

And many end up suffering from depression and anxiety, Harris said — either directly caused by the virus or as a result of frustration from persistent and debilitating symptoms. I don’t know.

“COVID molecules appear to affect many different organ systems. [more] Hirshberg, one of the Intermountain Clinic doctors who unveiled the “Long COVID Navigator” system at a press conference on Monday, said:

“The navigator program was actually launched with the goal of incorporating all of these multi-specialties and quickly guiding patients to the right place. Many of our sub-specialty clinics are usually booked and this Is a way to accept people … pretty quickly, “says Hirshberg.

Doctors at two long COVID clinics in Utah explained a similar pattern among the patients they saw. Most were middle-aged or younger, had no serious underlying health problems, and had less serious early illness with COVID-19.

“I … see many athletes, many fully working individuals who are so severely tired and foggy that they cannot return to pre-COVID levels of exercise and activity.” Said. In fact, she said that long COVID patients hospitalized with COVID-19 often recover faster than patients whose first case was mild.

“These are people who have no risk factors, diabetics, hypertension, coronary artery disease and have never been very ill with COVID,” Harris agreed. “But it just lasts for a long time. All these symptoms continue.”

About 40% of patients with symptomatic COVID-19 experience some sort of “sequelae”. This means that it usually takes more than two weeks for symptoms to develop or recover from COVID-19, Hirshberg said.

“We are pretty reserved,” she said. Echo Report from the University of Utah’s Long COVID Clinic.. High numbers may simply reflect how contagious COVID-19 is and how many Utahns had it.

However, Hirshberg said: “There seems to be some differences in the COVID molecule …. Indeed, using COVID reveals far more than any previous virus.”

Some patients recover soon afterwards, but others continue to have symptoms for a year, Hirschberg said.

“This is a good reason not to catch this virus. You just want to boost your immunity, so don’t catch it intentionally,” says Harris. “I don’t want to have a headache for the next 12 months.”

Intermounty’s doctors said they were aware of one particular factor that seemed to play an important role when COVID’s long-haul carriers finally recovered. It’s sleep.

“The good news is most of them, their early patients, they gave me feedback that they’re really feeling better these days, and that the key factor is actually sleep. I think, “says Hirschberg. “Many of these people interfere with sleep, and it doesn’t matter if it’s due to the exact changes in the neurohormonal pathways that COVID stimulates in the brain, or because it’s overwhelming. New sleep patterns. Finding out and actually working on getting enough sleep and plenty of rest helps many of these patients. “

In short, “self-care” is a big part of the recovery from long-term COVID, Harris said. Patients “really need to be careful about returning to full exercise and really listen to their body,” Harris said. “This is not a typical cold. You need to listen … how your body feels in activity. Even patients who are just walking in the room are short of breath and the heart races. May start. “

If symptoms persist after COVID-19 diagnosis, call Intermountain’s long COVID navigator (801-408-5888). Information about the University of Utah’s long COVID clinic is: https://healthcare.utah.edu/locations/covid-19-clinic/..