- Scripps Research has launched a new clinical trial, called the Long Covid Wearable Study, that will test whether smartwatches and other wearable devices can help people with Long Covid manage their symptoms through better-informed pacing. The study’s principal investigator, Julia Moore Vogel, designed the trial based on her personal experience with Long Covid. People with Long Covid, ME, and POTS are eligible to enroll in the trial; participants can use their own devices or request one of 500 Garmin wearables that the study will distribute.
- Scientists have found lingering SARS-CoV-2 fragments in the blood of people who had Covid-19 14 months after infection, and in tissues more than two years after infection. These findings from two separate studies were recently presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). “These two studies provide some of the strongest evidence so far that Covid antigens can persist in some people, even though we think they have normal immune responses,” said author Michael Peluso in a press release. These findings may help us understand Long Covid, Peluso said, as well as associated risks like stroke and heart attack. Read more about the studies in Mercury News.
- A new systematic review of 30 studies and surveys in PLOS One found that healthcare workers with Long Covid often felt dismissed by their own doctors and had trouble finding adequate care. “Most participants described a deterioration in their ability to carry out everyday tasks, including clinicians concerned about the safety of their practice, and raised concerns over whether they would ever recover or return to work,” the authors of the study wrote.
- Lastly, NIH RECOVER is enrolling for a Long Covid trial to evaluate treatments for Long Covid-induced postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). This trial, first announced last August, was more favorably viewed by outside researchers and patient-advocates than others at RECOVER. The study will test a form of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) called Gamunex-C, Ivabradine (an oral medication that reduces heart rate), and a coordinator-guided treatment of a high salt diet and a compression belt. Find out more here.
- For more research updates, check out the Long Covid Weekly newsletter!
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