67% of 2,314 Long COVID patients surveyed reported symptoms of a dysregulated autonomic nervous system such as:
- A drop in blood pressure when standing
- Brain fog or cognitive disturbances
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Heartbeat irregularities
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Tingling or numbness
- Bladder dysfunction
- Shortness of breath
- Sleep disturbances
- Chest pain
- Fatigue
This translates to 38 million Americans with Long COVID dysautonomia.
But there is a problem...🧵
"There are only 52 doctors in the US who are board-certified in autonomic disorders and fewer than 50 dysautonomia specialty centers throughout the US equipped to diagnose, treat, and study dysautonomia."
Furthermore, there are also no effective treatments for dysautonomia.
Existing medical centers are overwhelmed, forcing clinicians to "[turn] away new and even existing dysautonomia patients."
This is a heartfelt appeal to all the bright, dedicated medical students still exploring their specialty options: the Long COVID community urgently needs your skills, compassion, and innovation to address this growing crisis!
Please help us spread the word by sharing this content!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Persistent chronic inflammation slows the production of serotonin, diverting it instead toward the production of quinolinic acid, a neurotoxin.
This is thought to play a role in psychiatric symptoms associated with chronic inflammation and infections.
Here is why...🧵
🧠 The Kynurenine Pathway Background
Often, a linear biochemical pathway can diverge into two pathways, making two different molecules (serotonin and quinolinic acid) from the same reactant (tryptophan).
Biochemical pathways in our cells can be thought of as a waterfall where reactants (tryptophan) rapidly "flow" through a series of enzymatic reactions, producing new molecules.
See the image from above.
🧠+🔥 Inflammation Changes the Pathway
Chronic inflammation from an infection or autoimmune disease can alter this biochemical "waterfall."
Inflammation can change the efficiency of several key enzymes in the pathway, REDIRECTING the "flow" TOWARD quinolinic acid production, a neurotoxin.
Specifically, 🔥 inflammation:
⬇️ reduces the "flow" of tryptophan down the serotonin side and
⬆️ increases the "flow" of tryptophan down the neurotoxin production side (see image).
Researchers from 16 different countries recruited 2390 individuals (age 50 ± 15 years, 49.2% women) to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on vascular aging.
They found that persistent COVID-19 symptoms in women correlated with increased vascular aging.
Data suggest there is a broken ion channel on the surface of white blood cells in patients with (1):
- Long COVID
- ME/CFS
New evidence suggests it can be fixed.
Here is how...🧵
Research from Dr. Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik in Brisbane, Australia, verified that Long COVID patients, like ME/CFS patients, have a dysfunctional calcium ion channel called TRPM3(1).
The function of this ion channel can be restored with low-dose naltrexone (LDN) in ME/CFS-isolated immune cells (1).
New evidence suggests the same for Long COVID patients. (below)
This ion channel is located on the plasma membrane of cells, where it is highly permeable to Ca2+ (ions).
This means it lets Ca2+ ions into the cell.
These calcium ions play an important role in:
- calcium-dependent signaling pathways
- calcium homeostasis
- cell differentiation
- cell adhesion
- cell division
It also plays an important role in the function of immune cells (1).
45% of those with Long COVID suffer from a sleep disorder (1).
It's so prevalent that it's dubbed 'coronasomnia'.
Here is the science...🧵
\ Coronasomnia:
There is a strong association between Long COVID and the development of:
- insomnia
- sleep continuity disorders
- feeling of non-restorative sleep
- changes in the sleep-waking cycle
However, this is not unique to Long COVID.
\ Sleep and ME/CFS:
Those with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and other neuroinflammatory conditions also have similar disordered sleeping patterns (2).
This debilitating condition is symptomatically similar to Long COVID.
Like long COVID, it can also be triggered by a pathogen such as:
- Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease)
- Epstein-Barr Virus
- Herpesvirus 6
- Influenza
- etc.