April 2024 Newsletter

Lisa Sanders, MD of Yale School of Medicine and medical director of Yale New Haven Health’s Multidisciplinary Long COVID Care Center, has created a blog to help keep long COVID patients and their supporters informed on the newest long COVID information.

This blog encourages patients to share their experiences with COVID-19 and long COVID to learn more from patients directly.

See the latest webinar from RECOVER focusing on the impact of COVID-19 infection on brain, immunity and metabolism. Hear from multiple panelists that explain the findings from RECOVER studies examining electronic health records.

There have been many studies done comparing people who had COVID-19, versus people who did not, by administering cognitive testing. Cognitive testing allows researchers to measure people’s ability to process information and test their IQ. It’s been found that there are clear differences in the IQ of people who had been infected with COVID-19 versus people who were not. Even those with mild COVID were found to have about a 3-point loss of IQ. This is due to the COVID-19 virus inducing inflammation of the brain, causing symptoms such as brain fog and memory problems, and persistent inflammation making the brain more vulnerable.

A new study in the UK, its largest long COVID study yet, followed up with 650 hospital patients with severe COVID. Six months later, 65% had at least one long COVID symptom. Researchers said that those with long COVID symptoms showed evidence of a continuing and active pattern of inflammatory proteins in their blood. Inflammation is proving to be a common feature of long COVID, especially in those who recover from severe COVID-19 infection. This additional research provides strong evidence that inflammation must be considered as a target as new therapies are developed for long COVID symptoms.

Vanderbilt University has created a website to help long COVID patients and their caregivers stay informed and safe.

If you are looking for more information, Vanderbilt has listed additional tips for those seeking extra support:

• provide support and compassion and be understanding and willing to adapt
• respect any boundaries or requests for accommodations
• celebrate their progress and achievements, no matter how small, and show appreciation
  

Follow us to stay in the loop about the latest long COVID news and for long COVID updates in Western New York.

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If you had COVID-19 and would like to participate, begin filling out the questionnaire.

If you have already participated in the Long COVID Connection, feel free to share with others who may be interested.

Contact us: (716) 382 - 1808 / ubcov@buffalo.edu