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'Long' Covid: Where side-effects can last for months

KBBI

Most cases of Covid-19 resolve in a couple of weeks, if the patient isn’t among the unfortunate two-or-three percent who die from the disease. But there are others who are living with remnants and side-effects of Covid for months, and up to a year so far.
    Rob Downy is a family practice doctor in Homer, and was a guest on the Covid Brief with Kathleen Gustafson. He spoke about long-covid
    “It's been clear for many, many months that there are people after COVID who don't get back to themselves. Thankfully it's recognized by the conventional medical community. So it's out there that there are people who have heart trouble or brain fog or a cough that never resolved. Any host of a constellation of findings that don't get back to normal,” Downy said. “And many of those individuals feel very debilitated, fatigue, and brain fog, or ongoing heart issue as being pretty classic for post-Covid”
    Downy described exactly what is meant by “long Covid.”
    “So the conventional medical community is saying this post COVID syndrome or long COVID is being described as a constellation of findings that can't be explained by anything else.”
    Downy says when patients come to him, he tries to treat them in a number of ways to increase the odds of a positive outcome.
    “I'll show folks this protocol saying these are the supplements that are recommended to, to mitigate the risk of contracting COVID. These are the supplements that are recommended, to have a lesson, severe case. If you're known to have COVID right now, and these are the supplements that are recommended in the wake to mitigate or avoid or diminish post COVID syndrome,” Downy said. “And we're usually putting together a combination of those things. Lifestyle makes a difference and food and rest and stress management, movement and social connection. Those are the primary firewalls against getting it, having a severe course or having post COVID syndrome is having good lifestyle practices in place.”
    Alaska Public Health Nurse Lorne Carroll said we should see a shift to dealing with long covid as more and more people are immunized and initial covid cases continue to decline.
    “I think in terms of long COVID over the next several months, we'll see a shift in conversations in the work that we're doing, because not only the impacts of COVID, such has long COVID, which is largely, still not understood very well. We'll also see that folks that weren't directly impacted by the virus due to social exclusion. You know, losing their job or inability to access preventative care, all that stuff impacts the health and wellness of us as individuals and families, but also the entire state,” Carroll said. “So I think, uh, you know, Rob's kind of setting the stage there perfectly to start shifting these conversations as we look at getting out of the pandemic and preparing for, unfortunately, the next.”
    You can hear more of Doctor Downy’s interview on the Covid Brief with Kathleen Gustafson, available online at KBBI dot org.

Tags
Local News COVID 19Nurse Lorne CarrollDr. Rob DowneyLong Haul COVID
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