Long COVID: Where's the Cure?!

As many as 1 in 3 people who catch COVID-19 get #longcovid. People like Dianna Cowern (‪@physicsgirl‬) and millions of others are still sick, some of them have been for years. Where's the cure? What's happening? Can we help?

👇👇👇 S O U R C E S & M O R E 👇👇👇
This episode was a hard one to make. Like a lot of you I saw Simone pop up on the PhysicsGirl channel and was devastated. I've known Dianna for years and always respected and loved her #sciencecommunication. As Simone talked about what was happening, I started researching ME/CFS and COVID long haulers; that research became this video. I emailed Dianna's family and team before making this video to get their consent. I hope you learn something from this and leave with a better understanding of what she, and millions of others, are going through. I know I did.

The COVID-19 pandemic isn't over, and catching COVID isn't the whole story. For millions of people all over the world COVID is just the start of a long, horrible road. In 2019, the first cases of Long Haul COVID appeared. These are COVID patients who seem to have beaten the virus, but never get bette. Instead, they're exhausted, or in pain. They sleep for hours but don't feel rested, and even minor activities like going to the grocery store or checking email can wipe out what little energy they have.

As the COVID pandemic research money dries up, what happens to these people? How do they get care? How do they get better? Where's the cure for Long Covid?

Scientists researching this new illness stumbled upon a similar one called ME/CFS (or CFS/ME depending on where you're from). ME/CFS is a known, but little-understood syndrome that overlaps with many of the symptoms of long haul COVID patients. Are they they same thing?

I personally know at least two people who have come out with their struggles with Long COVID and ME/CFS. I want them to get better. After an incredible, worldwide commitment to finding solutions to COVID people are moving on. Do we really want to leave behind our friends and family? I don't think so.

Learn more about Long COVID on the ‪@CDC‬'s website:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-...
or on the ‪@americanmedicalassociation‬'s:
https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-c...

🔊🔊🔊 A U D I O N O T E 🔊🔊🔊
This video has been dubbed using an artificial voice via https://aloud.area120.google.com to increase accessibility. You can change the audio track language in the Settings menu.

🧲🧲🧲 F O L L O W 🧲🧲🧲
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💖💖💖 S U P P O R T 💖💖💖
Support Dianna on Patreon:   / physicsgirl  
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Here are some ME/CFS resources and orgs to learn more:
​‪@CDC‬ https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/inde...
‪@StanfordMedicine‬ https://med.stanford.edu/chronicfatig...
Note: You can throw your support behind research without spending money. Your time is important and raising awareness is too:
https://www.iacfsme.org/
https://ammes.org/organizations/
https://solvecfs.org/
https://www.omf.ngo/

📒📒📒 C H A P T E R S 📒📒📒
00:00 Dianna Cowern is PhysicsGirl
00:42 Intro
00:52 Without covid you don't have long COVID
03:03 Are Long COVID and ME/CFS the same?
03:50 What is Post-Exertional Malaise?
04:37 Why do some people get Long COVID?
05:28 Is ME/CFS real? (YES.)
07:04 Zero treatments
08:03 Why don't we have a cure?
08:58 How do you treat exhaustion?
10:25 How to avoid ME/CFS & Long COVID
11:22 Believe humans. ME/CFS is REAL.
11:44 Studies are coming soon
12:18 Can I do anything? Yes!

📕📕📕 L E A R N M O R E 📕📕📕
Desperate Americans Are Going Abroad for Unproven Long COVID Cures
https://www.thedailybeast.com/long-co...

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome wrote up from ‪@NIHgov‬
https://web.archive.org/web/202010192...

Long COVID: What We Know About Post-COVID Conditions
https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/mana...

Will Long COVID Research Provide Answers for Poorly Understood Diseases Like ME/CFS?
https://medicine.yale.edu/news-articl...

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/index.html

Some images by Getty Images
Music by Epidemic Sound

Thanks for supporting scicomm! Stay curious. I'll see you in the future. 💕