Muscle aches, irregular pulsations and pressure, and above all a state of profound fatigue. These symptoms are typical of those suffering from the so-called ‘long Covid’, that can’t heal, but they are very reminiscent of those of another pathology, chronic fatigue syndrome, so much so that many researchers, starting with the director of Niaid Anthony Fauci, are suggesting a link between the two phenomena.
The latest study in order of time to hypothesize a connection was published in Frontiers in Medicine by some researchers at the Karolinska Institue and the University of Uppsala, and states that some patients stay longer in intensive care because the same mechanisms are triggered. biological factors underlying the disease. In particular, the authors explain, the post Covid syndrome in those who have been in intensive care would be caused by the suppression of a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, by a ‘vicious circle’ between inflammation and oxidative stress of the cells and by a low function of a thyroid hormone, problems already observed in those with chronic fatigue.
“Given the similarities – conclude the authors – an active collaboration between researchers expert in intensive care and chronic fatigue could lead to better outcomes in both situations”.
The link between Covid and chronic fatigue is hypothesized by several researchers, especially as regards the so-called ‘long Covid’, the phenomenon for which patients continue to have symptoms, among which chronic fatigue is one of the most widespread, for many months after the disease. In the US, the National Institute of Health, reports the Medscape website, is about to launch two specific researches on post-Covid patients on the subject, and also in Canada and in Great Britain patients with chronic Covid are being studied, especially to understand the mechanisms common to two pathologies.
The problem of fatigue had also occurred in some patients who had had Sars, explains the oncologist Umberto Tirelli, former head of the National Cancer Institute of Aviano and director of the Tirelli Medical Groupm Clinic specialized in chronic fatigue, and in general good part of the patients the syndrome is triggered after an infection.
Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also speculated that many patients have developed a condition very similar to what is called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Me / Cfs). This pathology – explains the expert – can also develop after other infectious diseases, for example mononucleosis, Lyme disease, flu, and has also been observed in patients who had had Sars. According to the National Academy of Medicine, according to the National Academy of Medicine, it is estimated there are about 2 million people affected by Me / Cfs, in Italy about 500 thousand people. Actually at this moment, even at our Clinic we have a consistent number of patients suffering from chronic fatigue post Covid, to whom we apply the same protocols used for chronic fatigue “.
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