Here’s what’s happening this week in research:
- Science continues to build on the role of blood clots in COVID-19 and Long COVID. A new paper in Nature validated earlier findings that fibrin binds to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, forming clots that cause inflammation and neurological issues like cognitive dysfunction. They also found that fibrin suppresses natural killer cells — which help clear the virus. The authors concluded that “fibrin-targeting immunotherapy may represent a therapeutic intervention for patients with acute COVID-19 and Long COVID.”
- The prevalence of Long COVID was higher among people with preexisting disabilities (40.6%) compared to the general population (18.9%), a new study in the American Journal of Public Health found. Increased exposure to COVID-19 and numerous healthcare barriers, as well as long-standing health disparities, may have “may have contributed to the greater prevalence of long COVID among people with disabilities,” the study’s authors wrote.*
- A new preprint in Medrxiv compared the blood of 1,455 people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) with over 130,000 controls. They found 116 differentiated tests in the blood of people with ME, compared to people without the disease. Still, no single marker in the study helped differentiate ME samples from controls. The authors wrote that the clear markers dispel “any lingering perception that ME is psychosomatic.”
*Editor’s note: Authors of this study are affiliated with the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, which shares a funding source (the Balvi and Kanro funds) with The Sick Times. Our newsroom operates independently of financial supporters.
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