Rehab Without Fatigue? The Great Challenges of Long COVID Treatment

Long COVID can feel like a lifetime sentence — yet scientists are developing more effective treatments for these deeply debilitating cases. Dr. David Putrino, Director of Rehabilitation Innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System, is a major contributor to this effort. He joins Long COVID patient and journalist Kaelyn Lynch and My Body Odyssey co-host Brittany Thomas for a report from the front lines of Long COVID.  Putrino and Lynch discuss innovative approaches to Long COVID, including Autonomic Rehabilitation, where clinicians help patients retrain their nervous systems to improve breathing and blood pressure. They also delve into the reasons that Long COVID patients need that retraining, the syndromes that COVID can trigger, and how damaged nerves may cause whole-body symptoms post-COVID. Join My Body Odyssey for a fascinating journey into the complex, challenging, yet guardedly hopeful state of COVID research and rehabilitation today. My Body Odyssey is a Fluent Knowledge production. Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney. Show Notes: Experts: David Putrino, PhD Dr. David Putrino: Mt. Sinai Putrino Lab Dr. David Putrino TEDx Talk: “We don’t treat patients, we train superheroes” Resources: One-Year Adverse Outcomes Among US Adults With Post–COVID-19 Condition vs Those Without COVID-19 in a Large Commercial Insurance Database Nearly One in Five American Adults Who Have Had COVID-19 Still Have “Long COVID” Autonomic conditioning therapy reduces fatigue and improves global impression of change in individuals with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome Exercises for Dysautonomia Patients Cleveland Clinic: Autonomic Nervous System Exercise and Non-Pharmacological Treatment of POTS Instructions for POTS Exercise Program—Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Nutritional Implications of Patients with Dysautonomia and Hypermobility Syndromes Worsening Postural Tachycardia Syndrome Is Associated With Increased Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide Secretion Characterizing Long COVID: Deep Phenotype of a Complex Condition Characterizing long COVID in an international cohort: 7 months of symptoms and their impact COVID-19 Induced Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): A Review Circulating SARS-CoV-2 spike N439K variants maintain fitness while evading antibody-mediated immunity Long COVID is primarily a Spike protein Induced Thrombotic Vasculitis COVID isn’t just infecting you—it could be reactivating viruses that have been dormant in your body for years Yale Medicine- 13 Things To Know About Paxlovid, the Latest COVID-19 Pill Long COVID 19 Syndrome: Is It Related to Microcirculation and Endothelial Dysfunction? Insights From TUN-EndCOV Study  Impaired Vagal Activity in Long-COVID-19 Patients Cleveland Clinic: Vagus Nerve A pilot randomized controlled trial of supervised, at-home, self-administered transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) to manage long COVID symptoms