Researcher Bruce Patterson, M.D. believes Long COVID could be caused by coronavirus fragments trapped inside the body, and may be treated by preventing their spread while promoting their natural death. Here is how one San Francisco woman has benefited from Patterson’s pioneering work.*

‘A prisoner in her own body’ 

Andrea Berlin says she would completely lose her breath if she talked for more than 15 minutes, and would experience heart palpitations if she walked for longer than five minutes. After contracting COVID-19 in March of 2020, the mother of three young children was left with debilitating and persistent symptoms for months after the initial infection, often making her feel as if she were “a prisoner in her own body.”

Detailing her incapacitation, Berlin said that she could no longer work full-time. Her life was upended, she said, describing herself at the time as “pretty desperate” and “quite depressed.”

Viral debris and Long COVID 

Berlin’s desperation prompted her to reach out to pathologist Bruce Patterson, M.D., Stanford University’s former Medical Director of Diagnostic Virology, and founder of IncellDx, a biotech company. 

Researching Long COVID’s causes, Patterson’s team believes fragments of the COVID-19 virus can be left behind long after a person recovers from initial infection, and these fragments trigger the immune system. In Berlin’s case, viral protein remained attached to cells, but there was no genetic material needed for the virus to replicate. These fragments, he says, can lead to common Long COVID symptoms, such as:

• Breathlessness,
• Fatigue,
• Heart issues,
• Joint pain, and
• Cognitive dysfunction (brain fog).

Novel treatment for a novel virus

Patterson’s treatment protocol involves repurposing two classes of drugs currently in use.

• CCR5 inhibitors, used in treating HIV, prevent virus particles from spreading through the body.
• Statins, normally used in lowering cholesterol, prevent the particles from attaching to blood vessels, causing them to die off more rapidly.

While the unconventional treatment is still being studied, it “has given [Berlin] her body and her life back,” states Devin Fehely of KPIX 5 News. Berlin happily explains that she is now back to near full-time work, and is able to play with her children.

*KPIX CBS SF Bay Area. (2021, July 24). New Treatment Shows Promise for COVID Long-Haulers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wliXL53LzUs

Responsum Health closely vets all sources to ensure that we always provide you with high-quality, reliable information. We do not, however, endorse or recommend any specific providers, treatments, or products, and the use of a given source does not imply an endorsement of any provider, treatment, product, medication, or procedure discussed within.