Treatment for Persistent Covid (Long COVID)
Personalised medicine treatments
What is Persistent Covid?
There are approximately 15% of people who, after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, maintain a set of symptoms for several months regardless of their acute COVID. This symptomatology is also referred to as "acute COVID".COVID prolonged', 'prolonged COVID chronic", "long COVID"syndrome" or COVID postagudo".
As it is a new disease, scientific information is continuously updated as new data becomes available.
There are three main hypotheses about the causes of persistent COVID:
- The virus remains in the body, causing a latent or chronic infection.
- That the infection triggers an inflammatory cytokine storm, generating a delayed inflammatory immune response.
- Autoantibodies are generated, altering immune function.
European Reference Centre for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Lyme disease
Main signs and/or symptoms of persistent COVID
According to the data currently available, the most frequently occurring symptoms among the population studied are:
- Tiredness and lack of energy
- General malaise
- Lack of concentration and memorisation
According to the survey conducted by the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG) and the LONG COVID ACTS affected groups, persistent COVID is more frequent in women (79%), in mid-life, although it can occur at any age and with persistent symptoms for more than 6 months.
Other symptoms are:
- Cardiac: palpitations, hypertension, tachy or bradycardia, orthostatic hypotension.
- Coagulation disorders: frequent bruising, microthrombosis.
- Skin: urticaria, rash, alopecia.
- Digestive: abdominal pain, retrosternal burning, gas, diarrhoea, dyspepsia.
- General: fever, chills, anorexia.
- Neurological: headaches, paraesthesias, lack of smell and/or taste, unsteadiness, dizziness.
- Eyes: double vision, nystagmus, blurred vision, dry eye.
- ENT: painful swallowing, dysphagia, dysphonia, oral thrush, tinnitus, hypoacusis.
- Locomotor: joint and/or muscle pain, cramps.
- Psychological: phobias, apathy, OCD, sleep disorders, anxiety/depression.
- Respiratory: chest tightness, dyspnoea, dry cough.
Diagnosis of persistent COVID
Independently of the routine tests performed on all patients with varied and persistent symptomatology, we specifically perform a LONG COVID cytokine panel, consisting of the quantification of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, CD-40 ligand, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5 (RANTES), TNF-alpha, IFN gamma and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor).
Depending on the results, we will know the patient's situation and will be able to establish the most appropriate treatment.
Treatment of persistent COVID
Depending on the analytical results, we prescribe a master formulation that reduces inflammatory cytokines, increases anti-inflammatory cytokines and regulates the growth factors affected. In addition, we always protocol a personalised treatment based on Biological Medicine and the latest medical advances on the subject, so that the patient improves progressively and that, finally, their immune system is effective and capable of carrying out its defensive work.
If the symptoms are very bothersome and the patient has a very poor quality of life, it is often very effective for an almost instantaneous reduction of symptoms, while the rest of the treatment is taking effect, to give the patient a cycle of INUSpheresis® in which we filter the patient's blood, eliminating at once the excess inflammatory cytokines, which are the cause of the symptomatology. In addition, with INUSpheresis® we eliminate toxicity from heavy metals, chemicals and mycotoxins, which are actually the ones that are maintaining the patient's immune deficiency and symptoms.
