July 31 (UPI) — Federal health officials on Monday kicked off enrollment for at least four potential treatments for long COVID and said additional trials for at least seven more treatments are coming soon.
The new trials are coming as part of the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER Initiative, a large, nationwide research program designed to understand, treat and prevent long COVID, officials said in a statement.
Long COVID is marked by long-term symptoms after infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. With more than 200 different symptoms reported, however, it has become apparent that a “one-size-fits-all” treatment likely will not work, making progress on tackling the disease frustratingly slow.
The most common symptoms of long COVID include a fast-beating heart, “brain fog,” hair loss, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, joint pain and obesity.
“We know that when patients are suffering, we can never move fast enough,” said Acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak. “NIH is committed to a highly coordinated and scientifically rigorous approach to find treatments that will provide relief for the millions of people living with long COVID.”
The upcoming Phase 2 trials will focus on potential treatments for four different aspects of long COVID, including “viral persistence,” in which the virus stays in the body and causes the immune system to malfunction, and “cognitive dysfunction,” including brain fog, memory problems and difficulty with attention, thinking clearly and problem solving.
Other long COVID aspects targeted for clinical trials include changes in sleep patterns or ability to sleep after having COVID-19, and problems in the autonomic nervous system, which controls a range of bodily functions, including heart rate, breathing and digestive system activity.
Additional trials testing seven more possible long COVID treatments are slated to begin in “the coming months,” NIH officials said Monday.
Funding for the quartet of Phase 2 trials (which test for safety and efficacy) is coming through $1.15 billion awarded to the NIH to research treatments for long COVID approved by Congress in 2020.
