COVID-19 is a scary thing, but perhaps worse is the reality that it could last weeks, or even months before recovery begins. This phenomenon is called “long COVID” or “long-haul COVID,” and can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).
It’s marked by lingering effects similar to those of “standard” COVID-19, including shortness of breath, “brain fog,” a change to smell or taste, fatigue, heart palpitations, and more.
And the worst part? A recent study from Penn State University shows that over half of the 236 million people who’ve been diagnosed with the virus suffer from long COVID.
An estimated 74,990 Oregonians have long COVID, and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) set up a Long COVID Program in March to help treat the issue.
Dr. Aluko Hope, medical director of the OHSU Long COVID Program, told The Lund Report that one of the major complications of spotting the long-lasting variant is that doctors still don’t quite understand how it attacks the body.
He continued that modern medicine is struggling with illnesses like long COVID because they don’t have a definitive manner in which to measure or test it for diagnosis. Add in the fact that underlying conditions can echo the symptoms, and doctors have their work cut out for them.
Rather than a single “cure-all,” doctors have been forced to treat the symptoms, rather than the virus. Those with pain are sent to physical therapists, headaches and coughs are given medications, and speech therapists help those with newly-impaired speech.
There are a number of ways that have been proposed to combat the various symptoms, with some doctors going so far as to prescribe drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s for COVID brain fog. Hope clarified that their effectiveness is debatable, saying that he hopes to help patients understand their physical and mental energy cycles and prioritize specific activities before a crash.
Those curious about the specific experiences of those who have long COVID can click here to read The Lund Report’s interviews with various patients and doctors.
By: Ethan Hauck
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