Sharing out some results from our ai-powered #LongCovid site:
* Most popular
* Most effective overall
* Most effective for POTS, Fatigue, Brain Fog, and more
These results are *directional*, but in the spirit of empowering patients with more information, we wanted to share.
🧵
1/ Sources
* Twitter
* Reddit: 2 LC subs, plus r/cfs, r/pots, r/mcas, r/eds, and r/dysautonomia
We collected >35k treatment reports, and read them w/ an AI model to (imperfectly) see if people improved/worsened.
We show all raw data and inferences in case you want to vet!
2/ Top 20 most popular
This helps us gut check the data. Indeed, we see some familiar faces - antihistamines, nattokinase, LDN, probiotics, etc.
The beta blocker reports are mostly coming from r/pots, and the steroid reports are largely from r/mcas.
1. Hydration 2. Salt 3. IV fluids 4. Compression stockings
No big surprises here!
Note that % improved for specific symptoms is lower b/c people don't always call out the symptoms that improved. For these, just focus on relative ranking
Some of these treatments have real risks, and you should talk to your doctor before making any major changes to your treatment regime.
Also, these data shouldn't be given the same weight as actual surveys or controlled studies!
What do you think? Any surprises?
Click the link below to see the results for your own symptoms/conditions, and see user reports for any treatments you're curious about (it's 10x better than searching twitter).
#nattokinase and #serrapeptase are supplements help break them down. They've provided relief to many, and are available today.
How do they work, and how do you get started? 🧵
1/ How do they work?
@resiapretorius's work identifying #MicroClots in #LongCovid patients was groundbreaking. These clots are different from stroke-causing clots, but could still be causing major issues.
Covid spike protein can cause blood clots, and there's evidence that virus persists in the body for months after infection, which could contribute to ongoing clotting.
Antihistamines should be near the top of your list of things to try for #LongCovid.
Yes, allergy and heartburn medication have provided *substantial* relief for many.
How does it work, and how do you get started? 🧵
1/ How does it work?
Histamine is in all of us, and plays a role in:
- Regulating sleep-wake cycles, temperature, and blood pressure
- Stimulating production of mucus and gastric acid
- Inflammation
It's in food, and it's also produced by your body. Too much is bad.
In an allergic reaction, your immune system alerts your mast cells of an invader, and, among other things, they produce histamine to help clear things out.
Sometimes, they're too easily stimulated and flood the system with histamine.
Two giants of immunobiology and neuroscience, @virusesimmunity and @michelle_monje, just published a preprint that reviews the latest.
Here’s what you need to know 👇
First, it appears that multiple mechanisms conspire to cause Long Covid, and any given case might have its own particular combination.
Researchers are racing to confirm these mechanisms, so we can start working on cures.
1/ Respiratory inflammation --> central nervous system (CNS) inflammation
Some impacts:
a) Disrupted myelination: electrical impulses don’t fire as well
b) ⬇️ hippocampus cell growth: worse memory and mood
c) ⬆️ astrocyte reactivity: poor blood flow and reduced neurotransmitters
It's invaluable to know how your condition is changing and if new treatments are helping.
But after talking to over 200 patients, almost nobody sticks with it.
Here’s how we could do better 🧵
1/ They don't actually help you get better 🤷
Symptom tracking should help you get better. If the tool isn’t providing insight into how treatments are impacting you and how you can get better, of course you’ll eventually stop using it.
2/ The questions are too vague 😶🌫️
“mild, moderate, severe” isn’t enough. Answers drift over time, and it won’t capture important, small changes.
More patient-informed rubrics are needed to track more accurately and consistently.
🌬 Breathwork is a not-so-hidden secret within the #LongCovid and #MECFS community, and has been described as “game-changing” and “the number 1 intervention I’ve tried”.
But how could it possibly be so helpful? How does it work? Let’s dive in.
1/ How does it work?
First off, this is not just “thinking your symptoms away”. It creates substantial changes to your physiology that can counteract some of the harm caused by Long Covid.
1.1/ Vagus Nerve (VN) Stimulation.
A disrupted VN (e.g. via persistent virus) can contribute to dysautonomia. Breathwork stimulates the VN, activating a “rest and digest” mode, potentially mitigating these symptoms and even decreasing inflammation.
David Putrino runs a research group at Mt. Sinai, is a fierce patient advocate and a great science communicator. He makes sure patients are informed and involved in the latest research.
Amy Proal is a tour de force in Long Covid research, and is the CSO of a new @polybioRF initiative focusing on viral persistence. Follow her to stay up to speed on the latest Long Covid research (and we'd recommend her interviews on Youtube as well).