About 3 weeks ago, Physics Girl made an 11-hour live stream to raise awareness about long-COVID:
https://www.youtube.com/live/v8HWt9g4L0k?si=cs7IWtIE4pjvvlOm
I tried to watch the stream multiple times, as I’m interested due to my own long-COVID situation, but I only managed to watch some pieces of the interview and couldn’t watch the whole stream. I tried different LLMs to give me a summary of the stream, and finally, after multiple hours of “torturing” my laptop, Llama 3.1 (70B parameters) provided some summarization.
Disclaimer: Large language models may give incorrect results. Take the summarization with a grain of salt, do your own research, and watch the stream.
Summary:
The live stream was a 12-hour fundraiser for the Open Medicine Foundation, which aims to support research and clinical trials for ME/CFS and long COVID. Diana, a physics girl, has been bedridden for over a year due to ME/CFS and long COVID. The stream featured interviews with experts, including Dr. David Kaufman, Dr. Raven Baxter, Linda Tannenbaum, and Dr. David Patrino. They discussed various aspects of ME/CFS and long COVID, including the importance of pacing, the role of exercise, and the need for more research.
Therapies that appeared to be useful:
- Pacing: a technique to manage energy levels and avoid exacerbating symptoms.
- Red light therapy: may help stimulate mitochondria and improve energy production.
- Humming: may help increase nitric oxide levels and improve vascularization.
- Autonomic rehabilitation: gentle, non-exercise-based interventions to help regulate the autonomic nervous system.
- Breath work: gentle, non-exercise-based interventions to help regulate breathing and calm the body.
Existing and promising theories as to why long-COVID is happening:
- Viral persistence: the idea that the COVID-19 virus may persist in the body, causing ongoing symptoms.
- Mitochondrial dysfunction: the idea that the mitochondria, responsible for energy production, may be impaired, leading to fatigue and other symptoms.
- Co-infections: the idea that other viruses, such as Epstein-Barr or CMV, may be reactivated or exacerbated by COVID-19, contributing to long COVID symptoms.
- Microclots: the idea that small blood clots may be forming in the body, leading to inflammation and other symptoms.
- Autoimmune responses: the idea that the immune system may be overreacting or misfiring, leading to chronic inflammation and symptoms.
- Oxidative stress: the idea that the body’s natural antioxidant defenses may be overwhelmed, leading to cell damage and symptoms.
- Post-exertional malaise: the idea that exercise or exertion may trigger a worsening of symptoms, possibly due to the body’s inability to properly recover from physical activity.
These theories are not mutually exclusive, and it’s possible that long COVID is the result of a complex interplay between multiple factors.