Post-Covid Syndrome Drives a New Perspective of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-STAT

SSome survivors of acute seizures of Covid-19 experience varying persistence Medical problems — Some last for weeks or months. This includes extreme fatigue, thinking or memory problems, muscle aches, headaches, etc. One survivor is “I was hit by a truck”

Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease specialist, Confirmed this month Many of the symptoms of these unrecovered patients are: Myalgic encephalomyelitisDisability disease is also commonly referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS. “This is something we need to seriously consider,” Fochi said.

Observation of Forch, Responses from othersOf course, it is very important as well as providing a warning about the potentially devastating long-term health effects of a pandemic. Focusing on the possible link between “post-covid syndrome” and ME / CFS, Forti highlighted the long-ignored field of post-viral disease. This is a poorly understood phenomenon that is unlikely to carry important clues about both causes and treatments. conditions.

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In recent decades, researchers have documented persistent sequelae among some people with acute infections of diseases such as SARS, West Nile virus, and the 2009 H1NI influenza virus. It is not known why some people are vulnerable to these chronic conditions.

The name “myalgic encephalomyelitis” was created in the 1950s after what appeared to be a viral disease with long-term complications at a hospital in London. No pathogen was identified as the cause. After outbreaks with similar functions Lake Tahoe in the mid-1980s, A team headed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and its name has become widely adopted.

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of CDC quote Many remain undiagnosed, but up to 2.5 million Americans have ME/CFS. Quite a few people go home and are bedridden. Like post-Covid syndrome, most people report that the disease began with an acute episode of the infection, often mononucleosis or influenza. Research has documented a range of neurological, immunological, metabolic, and other dysfunctions, but no specific cause of ME/CFS has been identified and pharmacological treatments developed for it Not.

The main symptom is not fatigue per se, but minimal activity followed by long-term recurrence of fatigue, cognitive impairment, and other symptoms. This is commonly referred to as “post-exercise fatigue”.

For decades, many people with ME/CFS have been fired by doctors, employers, and even families as experiencing exaggerated or psychosomatic illness. Some people after Covid’s syndrome also report that problems are more likely to be caused by anxiety symptoms, depression, and post-traumatic stress.

According to the unproven present Widely questioned hypothesis Symptoms are perpetuated by an irrational fear of exercise, as it has long been used in the field of ME/CFS non-pharmacological interventions. These “useless” and “dysfunctional” beliefs are said to result in a down spiral of sickness, muscle wasting, excessive sleep, and depression. The curative treatments that have emerged from this hypothesis have been regimens that increase the course of psychotherapy or exercise.

These two rehabilitation approaches were conducted in the UK and tested in the well-known government-funded PACE trial. The result is 2011 lancet And Later in other journals, Their papers and official statements, researchers say that patients achieve “recovery” “Return to normal” Intervention—A claim widely disseminated by the press

But in the last few years, News articles And Peer-reviewed research Documented many of the flaws in the case and challenged their findings. To Open letter More than 100 scientists and other experts cite Lancet, published on the science site Virology Blog, quoting the “unacceptable methodological course” of the study and demanding an independent investigation. As a result of these and related developments, the claim that ME / CFS is perpetuated by psychological and behavioral factors that can be successfully treated with psychotherapy and exercise intervention has lost many currencies in the scientific community.

Given the core symptoms of post-exercise malaise, recommendations for stepped exercise are increasingly recognized as harmful and useless. According to multiple studies, many ME/CFS patients report severe deterioration after a step exercise approach.

After decades of federal research neglect, the National Institutes of Health Increase in funds ME/CFS for biomedical research, but not yet in sufficient quantity. The UK’s attitude towards illness also seems to have changed, with government agencies recently spending £3.2m. Genetic research called Decode ME.. This investment is less than the amount spent on the PACE trial, but it is the primary recognition that the search for answers has switched gears. These welcome research efforts could shed light on the pathophysiological processes involved in postcovid syndrome.

Despite a lack of knowledge about this new syndrome associated with Covid-19, British supporters who support the useless beliefs of ME/CFS and the hypothesis of conditioning are: Have advised Post-Covid symptomatic patients should resume normal activity as soon as possible and try not to rest too much. For decades, the wrong advice, directed precisely to the corps of people with ME/CFS, gives far worse results than before.

If the UK and US health authorities hadn’t invested so much in futile psychological and behavioral interventions in ME/CFS for years, patients were told that exercise and psychotherapy probably would not be able to “return to normal” When they did, they probably had heard for many years. Perhaps they would instead pursue essential biomedical research.

Given the urgent need for strong information about the possible long-term consequences of already infected viruses, we may be paying for this long-term neglect. Millions of people Around the world, an unknown number of people will experience some form of post-Covid disability. Studies of these people could bring important insights into this viral disease and ME/CFS.

But without neglecting or distrusting the voices of patients suffering from life-altering postviral syndromes, we would be much better off if medical and research institutions weren’t spending years. I guess Probably when they started listening.

David Tuller is a Senior Fellow in Public Health and Journalism at the Global Public Health Center at the University of California, Berkeley. ME/CFS patients and members of the advocacy community have generously donated to a crowdfunding campaign in support of Talah’s position in Berkeley. Steven Lubet is a law professor at the Pritzker School of Law at Northwestern University. He has lived with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since 2006.