Battling Long COVID-19 With Dietary Solutions

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Highlights:

• Long COVID-19, experienced by 7% of Americans, presents a myriad of chronic symptoms post-recovery
• USC's clinical trial explores the potential of an anti-inflammatory diet to mitigate long COVID-19 symptoms
• Early results could pave the way for broader trials, offering hope for more effective long COVID-19 treatments

Approximately 7% of Americans have had long COVID-19, which is characterized by a variety of chronic health problems that occur after infection and recovery from COVID-19. Fatigue, brain fog, headaches, chest pain, heart palpitations, and other symptoms may occur (1^✔). There is currently no established cure for the illness, and the mechanisms that produce it are unknown.

New clinical research from USC's Keck Medicine is now looking into whether a diet meant to reduce inflammation will help with this often debilitating ailment (2^✔).

‘Exploring the food-as-medicine approach! USC's Keck Medicine dives into the potential of anti-inflammatory diets to combat long COVID-19 symptoms. #longcoviddiet’

Can Food Choices Combat Long COVID-19's Inflammatory Aftermath

The trial's hypothesis is based on recent studies revealing that long COVID-19 may be caused by a hyper-inflammatory response that activates during COVID-19 as the body fights off the virus but does not resolve in some people even after the infection has passed. High levels of inflammation in the body can cause organ damage and other health issues.

"We are examining if food choice can quiet the body's inflammatory response and in doing so, effectively minimize or curtail long COVID-19 symptoms," said Adupa Rao, M.D., an investigator of the clinical trial and medical director of the Keck Medicine Covid Recovery Clinic.

The trial will look at the anti-inflammatory effects of a low-carbohydrate diet in combination with a medicinal meal that elevates blood ketone levels. Ketones, including beta-hydroxybutyrate, the main ketone in this diet, are molecules produced by the body to give energy when carbs and sugars are low. Both a low-carb diet and ketones have been linked to decreased inflammation in the body.

Assessing Dietary Interventions for Long COVID-19

The researchers intend to enroll 50 long-term COVID-19 patients from Keck Medicine's Covid Recovery Clinic. Half of the people will receive a 30-day dietary intervention, while the other half will not. Researchers will evaluate inflammatory indicators and long COVID-19 symptoms between the two groups of patients at the end of the month to see how patients handled the regimen.

Researchers intend to expand the clinical trial to a bigger population if the nutritional intervention is well tolerated by patients and improves their health conditions.

"Research like ours is vital to expand our understanding of long COVID-19 and ultimately help identify effective treatments to improve patient's quality of life," said the principal investigator of the clinical trial, Nuria Pastor-Soler, M.D., Ph.D., who is also an associate professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "The results of this trial will hopefully move us closer to potential solutions."

References:

1. Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions - (https:www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html)
2. Diet recommended for inflammatory conditions may also mitigate long COVID - (https:hscnews.usc.edu/diet-recommended-for-inflammatory-conditions-may-also-mitigate-long-covid)

Source: Medindia

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