2023-07-31 19:12:34
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching several studies to test potential treatments for the long-term scars caused by COVID, an eagerly awaited step in America’s efforts against the mysterious condition. that afflicts millions of people.
Monday’s announcement of the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid the frustration of patients who have long dealt with sometimes disabling health problems, with no proven treatments and only a few rigorous studies.
“Although this is a year or two late, and less in scope than one would expect, it is a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University in St. Louis, who is not involved. in the NIH project but whose research highlighted the cost of so-called “long COVID.” Getting answers is critical, he added, because “there are a lot of people exploiting the vulnerability of patients” with unproven therapies.
Scientists still don’t know what causes long-term COVID, a term that encompasses some 200 widely varying symptoms. It is estimated that between 10% and 30% of people have experienced some type of sequelae from the coronavirus after recovering from the infection, a risk that has decreased somewhat since the beginning of the pandemic.
“If I get 10 people, I get 10 answers for how long COVID really lasts,” said US Secretary of Health Xavier Becerra.
The RECOVER initiative has followed 24,000 patients in observational studies to help define the most common and bothersome symptoms, findings that are now shaping treatment trials on several fronts.
Some of the studies to be done will address cases of brain fog and other cognitive problems, sleep disorders, problems with the autonomic nervous system — which controls unconscious functions like breathing and heartbeat — including the disorder called POTS.
A more controversial study on exercise intolerance and fatigue is also planned.
The trials are enrolling 300 to 900 adult participants for now, but have the potential to grow. Unlike typical experiments that test one treatment at a time, these more flexible “platform studies” will allow the NIH to add additional potential therapies on an ongoing basis.
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