For many people, particularly following vaccination, infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, resolves within a few days. But for others, it results in long COVID, a variety of often debilitating symptoms that persist for weeks, months or even years. Why this happens in some is unclear, and there are currently no effective treatments. Some experts believe diet could be key to symptom management. What is the evidence for this?
Share on PinterestWhich diets might help with long COVID management? Image credit: Alex Potemkin/Getty Images.
Researchers describe long COVID — also known as post-COVID-19 condition — as “an often debilitating illness,” noting that it “occurs in at least 10%” of people who have had COVID-19.
It can result in a wide range of symptoms, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may include:
tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily lifefeverdifficulty breathing, cough or shortness of breathchest pain and heart palpitationsdifficulty thinking or concentrating, also referred to as “brain fog”headachesleep problemsdizziness when standing uppins-and-needles feelings in limbschange in smell or tastedepression or anxietydiarrheastomach painjoint or muscle painskin rasheschanges in menstrual cycles.
Why some people develop long COVID is not entirely clear, but factors that increase the likelihood include older age, being female, having other chronic conditions, and having had severe COVID-19.
Studies have shown that vaccination and early treatment with antivirals may decrease the likelihood of developing long COVID. A nonpeer-reviewed preprint has suggested that treatment with convalescent plasma could do the same.
So what might be some of the underlying mechanisms in long COVID, and could achievable interventions, such as following a specific diet, help manage its symptoms. Medical News Today looked at the existing evidence, and spoke to experts to find out more.
Dr. Adupa Rao, a medical director at the Keck Medicine Covid Recovery Clinic, told MNT that “there is no clear signal why certain people develop long COVID.“
However, according to him, a misfiring immune system,…