Treat the Overlap Between Long COVID and Chronic Fatigue
A new study suggests that treatments for long COVID can benefit from approaches used for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Researchers advocate for the use of targeted therapies like beta-blockers and low-dose naltrexone to address the treatment gap for long COVID patients. Many individuals with long COVID exhibit symptoms that align closely with ME/CFS, highlighting the need for better management strategies in primary care settings.
- ▪The study published in Annals of Family Medicine emphasizes the similarity between long COVID and ME/CFS symptoms.
- ▪Researchers found that many medications effective for ME/CFS were underutilized by primary care clinicians treating long COVID.
- ▪Approximately half of those diagnosed with long COVID meet the criteria for ME/CFS, indicating a significant overlap between the two conditions.
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In an effort to help patients with long COVID, family medicine clinicians can borrow from the treatment of another chronic syndrome, according to a new study published in Annals of Family Medicine.Symptoms of the condition often resemble myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and researchers said clinicians should adopt targeted therapies like beta-blockers and low-dose naltrexone to bridge a treatment gap left by a lack of specialists who treat long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of COVID.“There are high numbers of people with long COVID who either have the full criteria with ME/CFS or symptoms of it,” said Stephanie Grach, MD, MS, an internist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who led the new study.Both conditions are extremely similar and are…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Medscape.
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