Kaleigh Baia still loves quiz-style games, but her memory recall is slower than before Covid-19.
She still arrives at the gym. Last year she ran 5K. However, due to the difficulty of breathing such as asthma, you should now face yourself and vulnerable to greater fatigue. activity.
It has been more than four years since the 27 -year -old Grand Rapids had a first match with Kobid 19. The disease caused lung inflammation, joint pain, and vocal cord damage, tasted favorite foods, rotten smells, and forced to sleep straight for two weeks.
BAIA is one of millions of Americans diagnosed with Long Covid, a complex multiple system failure associated with Covid-19 symptoms that last more than 90 days.
The most common symptom of long covid is fatigue. Loss of odor or taste; Memory loss, brain fog or direction loss; Difficulty breathing; Common weakness; Muscle weakness; Joint pain; And hair loss.
BAIA, a hospital request coordinator, visited an expert and tried various treatments to regain life before October 2020. As of March-I feel that 85%to 90%recovers from 53 months after being infected with the corona virus (SARS-COV-2).
It has been five years since the Corona virus novels shaken the world, kill millions of people, admit many other people, cause economic crises, and change the daily lives of better people for three years.
Monday, March 10, we will commemorate the 5th anniversary of the first Covid-19 case. According to state health records, the number of deaths over five years is over 39,760.
In 2020-2022, 20%of adults infected with covid lasted more than 90 days, said Nancy Fleischer, a professor of epidemiology at Michigan University. National data estimates that about 5% to 7% of all adults experience long covid in 2024.
Corona virus is not the first virus that causes long -lasting effects. Other viruses, such as Epstein-Barr and West Nile, are associated with chronic fatigue lasted for weeks or months after infection.
Fleischer said, “Long covid was so new that SARS-COV-2 was so new, not much immunity, and many experienced it at once. “Ordinary people are infected with different times and different immunity.”
There were significant studies on post -mortem conditions, from the prevalence of the prevalence and the most influenced population to the physiological mechanisms that have a long -term influence.
But many questions have an answer.
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It took a few years for people, such as Jennifer Gansler (56), who had been tested for years but had left in the dark by medical professionals who had little medical care to explain what she had to explain.
Gansler, an academic advisor of Michigan State University, said, “All of these ideas are not better in anyone. “I struggled to find support in the medical community and had to do a lot of research.
“It was a lot of false start, a lot of trial and error.”
Ride your own trail
Gansler was one of the first identified Covid-19 cases in Michigan. After traveling to Spain, she got sick on March 11, 2020.
She was a self -proclaimed “Super Active, Outdoor Man” and was a healthy mother who liked to run and run on the hedgehog and Chicago marathon in 2019.
Her covid case was not needed, but he visited the emergency room twice for breathing problems. She was isolated at home and recovered slowly.
Five months later, she was estimated to have recovered 30%. Breaking fatigue has made it difficult to get up in bed. She had chest pressure, persistent cough, joint and muscle pain, and hair loss.
Simple tasks, such as taking a shower or talking on the phone, have left her desire. The prospect of running again seemed impossible.
Gansler worked with chronic fatigue. She tried supplements and drugs. Everything she did came back to bed.
In the case of Gansler and BAIA, looking at others who deal with similar long -term symptoms, I could feel less alone and see hope for improvement.
Evolution of treatment
In many areas of Covid Pandemic, Long Covid’s evaluation followed the traditional medical care model, said Dr. Katharine Seagly, co -director of the Cobid condition clinic at the University of Michigan.
The doctor attempts to find an exact mechanism that causes the patient’s persistent symptoms by ordering blood tests, MRI, CT scan and other screening tests. It was an expensive process with little value for patients like Gansler. Gansler often felt that the doctor had not heard or believed when the test result was returned to normal.
Dr. Seagly said, “All of these experts took the patient to take the test and find a lot of meaningless results.
“I need a doctor to fix me. It is the core of patient welfare that can have autonomy of chronic medical conditions and self -management. ”
Most of the long covid clinics, focusing on traditional medical models, are closed.
Where UM Conditional clinic after invasion It depends on the approach that focuses more on function, behavioral medicine and rehabilitation. This included things such as rehabilitation, exercise, behavior and mental health intervention.
This model focuses on the six -sessions, led by neurological psychology and rehabilitation psychology providers that have education, technology and mediation to solve the current symptoms and optimize the quality of life for patients.
Seagly said he no longer uses the term “long cobid”. They prefer “covid conditions”. Because it shows various conditions that affect each patient differently.
As of December, the clinic has seen more than 1,000 patients. Recommendations are not as high as before, but they have been steadily maintained last year.
Seagly said as of March 2025, there is no list of waiting, and new patients can make an appointment in a few weeks, not for several months.
Who is the most dangerous?
According to a joint study of the UM and Michigan Health and Human Services, patients with more severe Covid were likely to have long -term symptoms.
According to a survey of 2,700 adults, long covids found that women are more widespread compared to other racial/ethnic population compared to women, young people, and other people.
As with vaccinations, the prevalence increased as the level of education, low -income and BMI levels increased. Michigan Covid-19 Restoration Surveillance Research.
“We are still trying to understand why women are more vulnerable, but they are similar to other long -term results of viral infections.
“We also showed that in our research and other people, people can be vaccinated for a long time, reducing the risk of Kovid for a long time.
recent study MRNA vaccination in children between 5 and 17 years of age from CDC has found that if you have one or more covid symptoms, it is related to a 73% decrease if you have two or more long covid symptoms.
Road of recovery
Backpacking is usually marked on a trail where you need to go. There is an obvious road. It is a side of the hiking that attracts the liver slur.
With a long covid, it is not true. She said she wandered a lot of broken forests, she said. Many trials and errors to find what works and not.
She, one of the first long covid patients, suffered a medical examination area before she was discharged to find a means of recovery.
The bright point in her recovery was to take a free course through the MSU. Pain. The 16 -hour course taught by Dr. Howard Schubiner provided insights and practical knowledge to solve chronic pain and related conditions.
Gansler decided to find a way to calm the nervous system and alleviate the continuous anxiety of the body. She devoted her to everyday movements, meditation and breathing. She also started seeing pain treatment therapies.
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“Every time I talk about it, it’s very good, but I will not be scientifically grounded or do it,” she said.
“If you feel a vacation every day, it’s easy to feel despair. I was trying to maintain hope. I’m always looking for people’s recovery stories, so if they can do it, I can probably be able to feel it. ”
As of this spring, she also feels about 85%of recovery. After her conflict, her frustration lasts more often for several weeks or months.
After returning to work, Gansler has given academic advice to work remotely at home in Holly. She hopes to try a job all day a week.
About the return to her love for running and hiking -she is taking the trip slowly. She routinely walks about 1.5 miles a day and plans to hike this summer, which will cover about 20 miles in two or three days.
“This is the way I approach everything now.” Do not worry to cut or shorter than expected. ”
In Baia, she visits the former Long Covid Clinic of COREWELL and recognizes her many progress. She received a suction and drug to help breath, and was commissioned by speech therapy and orthopedic surgeon.
“It was a home base to find what you’re experiencing, compare it with what others are experiencing, give you resources, and not work.” “Experiment is the best word.”
For a long time, if you use Kobead, BAIA is tied to your body more and forced to allow more breaks if you plan the night or go beyond your daily life.
She wants to see more resources for long cobids, more patience for those who are struggling with it, and more resources that help people find a new sense.
She gave her grace and learned how to take things when they came. Therefore, she has her advice for others suffering from the aftermath of cobid infection.
“I am not very patient,” Bian said. “Leave yourself first. Take a free time to relax, eat, speak, speak, and advocate yourself. ”
