September, 2024: Hundreds of new subscribers have begun to follow my posts over the last two years. I suspect that many of you missed the post below from 2022. It laid out my hypothesis regarding the elements that contribute to Long COVID (LC).
Interestingly, despite two years of continued research, the hypothesis has not changed. However, insights on treatment of acute SARS-CoV-2 infections and LC have changed.
In November 2023, I published a brief overview of my strategy involving supplements, diet, and lifestyle. It’s called TLC for Mitochondria.
Irrespective of your role or interest in taming Long COVID or addressing many of the health issues associated with aging and many other chronic diseases, I recommend reading it.
By way of progress, I was in very rough shape early on in Long COVID. I think that the photo above, taken in 2024, reflects a return to vitality for a woman in her late seventies. I suspect that it is however, a process that will continue for many of us, for the rest of our lives.
In the weeks and months ahead I plan to drill down on relevant topics including supplements that are proving to be useful and stubborn or emerging COVID related health issues. As more research on the role of mitochondria in acute and chronic viral infections emerges, I will endeavor to share it with you.
Please feel free to contribute your thoughts, challenge my ideas, and add your insights and resources.
I’m deeply appreciative of having you as subscribers and supporters of these communications.
22 November, 2022: I wish that I could have published this many months ago, but at that point Long COVID dominated my life. Like many others whose symptoms have lingered, fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, muscle weakness, and loss of my sense of smell were part of my life. To top it off, debilitating digestive tract issues, including diarrhea, lasted for months.
Trained in immunology and endocrinology, I am a scientist who struggled with Long COVID for more than two years before finding clues that led to my recovery. The journey of healing began with changes to my diet. It was enough to open a small window, relieving my most extreme fatigue. As the fatigue and brain fog began to lift, I was able to dig deeper.
Above is a diagram that lays out the interacting elements that I now realize were contributing to my experience with Long COVID. Their interactions have been key to understanding and resolving my symptoms.
Each of them is complex. Despite my years of experience and background knowledge, it has taken months of exploration, digging into my own scientific expertise and the work of other scientists to grasp this perspective. And to be clear, the exploration continues.
Long COVID is affecting the lives of millions of people worldwide and has become both a personal and societal problem. As such, I believe that scientists, health care providers, business leaders and policy makers may find insights from this work that will influence their perspectives and decisions.
Ultimately, my hope is that this body of work will help those who are struggling to find relief from the ongoing symptoms of this illness, to restore hope and health. I invite you to follow along and share this blog with others.
I always look forward to your next posts.
What a beautiful picture of you!