Dr Nancy Klimas, Director of the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, is an immunologist internationally renowned for her work in multi-symptom illnesses. In this week’s episode she explains her work, from HIV through ME/CFS and Gulf War Syndrome, that has led to her having insight and an amazing team to channel efforts into Long Covid research and treatment.

In an insightful overview she describes her work in understanding the mechanisms (viral persistence, viral reactivation), impacts of (MCAS, cell dysfunction, T-cell dysregulation) and potential alleviation of the disease. She has been involved in studies looking at clinical therapeutics such as LDN and has seen remarkable results with the use of MABs which she is hoping to replicate in a larger clinical trial in the coming weeks.

Living with Long Covid? How was your week?

Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/
Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc
Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Dr Rob Wüst, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Movement and Behaviour Sciences, is an expert cardiac and skeletal muscle metabolism and mitochondrial function. He and the team at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, published the “PEM study” in Nature Communications, which investigated the muscular changes in Long Covid patients who experience post-exertional malaise (PEM), or “the worsening of fatigue- and pain-related symptoms after acute mental or physical exercise”.

In this week’s episode Wüst talks us through the key findings of their study, including the muscular changes, mitochondrial dysfunction and microclots that were present in the Long Covid patients compared to their control group. He discusses the effects of bedrest on the human body and how exercise is usually beneficial for overall health, but highlights what was revealed through blood tests and muscle biopsies in their study – that Long Covid patients have limited exercise capacity with lower mitochondrial function and our rehabilitation needs to be handled with this unique understanding.

Living with Long Covid? How was your week?

Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/
Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc
Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Dr Thomas Chelimsky, Professor of Neurology and Director of VCU’s autonomic laboratory, is a specialist in autonomic dysfunction and a vocal advocate for considering the mind and body as one cohesive system. He, along with his team at the VCU clinic, take a unique brain-body approach to treating Long Covid patients, with success.

In this week’s episode he discusses the autonomic issues faced by Long Covid patients including migraine, which he believes is prevalent in c. 50% of patients, and POTS which he discusses ‘almost never shows up alone’, linking it with the migraine, fibromyalgia and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). He explains the roles of the periaqueductal gray region of the brain and the vagus nerve, alongside the implications of trauma (both physical and mental) on the autonomic system, and the role that it plays in Long Covid.

Living with Long Covid? How was your week?

Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/
Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc
Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions