While new COVID-19 cases are down across the United States, a “secondary pandemic, referred to as long COVID, is still going strong. Long COVID affects approximately 10% of people who contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus, adding up to millions of adults and children around the world.*

The research and medical communities continue to struggle to provide diagnoses, treatments, and care for COVID-19 long-haulers. These are people experiencing lingering symptoms from their initial infection and illness, and sometimes accompanied by the onset of new and bewildering symptoms post-infection.

In order to better tackle and reduce the long COVID burden, a global conference of healthcare providers, researchers, engineers, and advocates gathered on June 19 and 20, 2021, to share knowledge and develop a systematic approach to effective, equitable diagnosis and treatment.  

Multiple Perspectives

Multiple perspectives and interdisciplinary collaboration are essential for successful problem solving on this scale. Experts participating in the Treating Long COVID (TLC) Conference represent diverse specialties including:

• Reproductive health
• Immunology
• Hematology
• Oncology
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Pediatrics
• Psychotherapy
• Nutrigenomics
• Medical technology
• Functional medicine

New Findings

Both study results and real-world experiences inform these efforts. New research suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may act as a catalyst for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), which can cause:

• Hives
• Face flush
• Low blood pressure 
• Breathing difficulty
• Gastrointestinal issues 

“I’ve been treating patients for Mast Cell Activation for six years and they look exactly like the long COVID patients,” said Dr. Tina Peers, an MCAS expert and a participant in the conference. “I’ve been treating long COVID patients since November and they all are responding very well to the treatments and getting better.” Those treatments have included antihistamines, a low histamine diet, and mast cell stabilizers.

According to Ashok Gupta, another panelist and the director of the Gupta Program, retraining your brain is also integral for recovery. “From a neuroplasticity point of view,” he said, “the longer you have a condition, the more entrenched it becomes in your nervous system and immune system, to the point at which the body just thinks this is just the normal way of being. It forgets the memory of health.”

Neuroplasticity is referred to as the brain’s ability to alter and adapt according to a person’s environment. Gupta is known for his brain retraining program that aims to keep the brain from unnecessary overstimulation.

*Rabe, L. (2021, May 31). Global Conference Coming Together to Learn How to Treat Long COVID. KMVT/KSVT. https://www.kmvt.com/2021/05/31/global-conference-coming-together-to-learn-how-to-treat-long-covid/ 

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions.