- The RECOVER-NEURO clinical trial found that “cognitive rehabilitation” failed in treating Long COVID. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) study included 328 people who underwent interventions of either online cognitive training (computer games), a cognitive rehabilitation program, or received electric currents on their heads, called transcranial direct current stimulation. The 10-week study used a type of scale that measures neurodegenerative disease as a primary end point and found no significant improvements across all interventions. When it was announced in 2023, the study was heavily criticized by people with Long COVID, and has been called a waste of funding that could have been used to trial pharmaceutical interventions.
- Scientists are revealing more about microclots and Long COVID. A recent study in the Journal of Medical Virology found a strong association between microclots and net-like structures that some white blood cells (called neutrophils) release to attack pathogens, known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Researchers assessed the blood of 50 people with Long COVID and compared those samples with blood from controls, finding more, and larger, microclots in people with Long COVID. The authors concluded that biomarkers for blood clotting and related inflammation and cardiac issues could be used to study Long COVID.
- A study about myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) was retracted by the journal Food Science and Nutrition. The study claimed that “dietary choices can potentially mitigate the syndrome,” stating that eating cheese protected people from ME, while eating peppers or “having an affinity for breakfast” contributed to ME. Some research commentators have applauded the decision, stating it is rare for poor studies on ME to be retracted.
