Long COVID

Following the life-threatening experiences of contracting COVID-19, having a stroke and then living with Long COVID, James is being supported in rebuilding his life by the QEF Care and Rehabilitation Centre. Here, he shares his story

  “On Christmas Eve I felt bad, I passed out and they called an ambulance out. They took me into East Surrey hospital, checked my sats, gave me oxygen and when my sats improved I went back home. But the next day it happened again, I passed out and they took me to A&E, then a respiratory ward. I didn’t make any improvement, so a bed was prepared for me on ICU, where they put me on a ventilator that saved my life. I remained in ICU at East Surrey Hospital for a further two weeks until I was stable enough to be moved. During this time, it was uncertain if I would survive. I was airlifted to the Lane Fox Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital In London, in the same ward where Boris Johnson the Prime Minister was treated. I stayed on a ventilator there for four weeks.

Research is underway to better understand the impact of Long COVID and the cognitive impairment associated with the condition. 

The CICERO (Cognitive Impairment in long Covid: PhEnotyping and RehabilitatiOn) project will help to determine which elements of brain function are most affected in people with Long COVID, using MRI scanning to identify affected brain networks. UCL researchers will then develop and test a new rehabilitation strategy to help people recover from the cognitive aspects of Long COVID and return to normal life and working ability. This will support production of a freely available COVID-19 Cognitive Recovery Guide on how best to offer the new rehabilitation approach depending on the patient’s symptoms. It has been backed by £1.2 million from NIHR. 

Natural daylight could be a “highly effective” treatment in supporting recovery from Long COVID, having shown benefit in people living with other debilitating conditions.

With cases of the post-COVID syndrome rising continually, uncertainty persists around the best way to treat and support people with the condition due to the developing knowledge and lack of data on the topic. But sunlight could play a significant role in supporting people in their recovery, says psychologist and sleep specialist Dr David Lee.  “One of the core symptoms of Long COVID is fatigue, and natural daylight could be a potential intervention,” says Dr Lee, clinical director of Sleep Unlimited, who has been teaching, researching and disseminating findings from his own research into sleep and the psychobehavioural treatment of insomnia for over 15 years.

Last month, assistant neuropsychologist Alarna shared her story of living with Long COVID, and her role as a rehab professional attempting to rehab herself. Here, she updates on her journey to recovery

  The road to recovery as I have now dubbed it has been painstakingly long, however in my sleepiness I found my life now moves to a new rhythm, there was a point that I let go of the frustration of not being energised and began to embrace the slower pace.  I continue to work shorter days at work but at last I have found that when I am awake, I am fully awake, alert, and productive. My speech, inside my head, has sped up to what I would call a reasonable speed (lol) and cognitively I am no longer feeling as though my processing speed is reduced. 

A specialist rehabilitation centre is extending its reach to accommodate Long COVID patients, as cases continue to rise and brain injury-like symptoms become more closely associated with the condition. 

Uplands Rehabilitation Centre is supporting growing numbers of people with Long COVID, using its ten years of neurological rehabilitation experience to devise bespoke plans for people battling its effects.  Recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested that 1.1 million people in the UK were affected by the condition in the four weeks from February 6, with about one in five people showing symptoms of Long COVID five weeks after an initial infection, and one in seven after 12 weeks. 

Long COVID can cause psychological symptoms including mood disorders, fatigue and perceived cognitive impairment that can impact on returning to work and resuming normal activities, new research has revealed. 

A new study reports on the first 100 patients to participate in Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 Activity Rehabilitation program (CARP), one of the first multidisciplinary programmes established to evaluate and treat patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome, also known as Long COVID.  More than a third of patients reported difficulties performing basic activities of daily living, and only one in three patients had returned to unrestricted work activity. 

The toll Long COVID can have is still being researched, its symptoms have much in common with a number of neurological conditions. Here, specialists from Neuro Physio Wales share their thoughts on why early intervention could be crucial.

Early intervention with symptoms of Long COVID can be vital in mitigating long-term effects, specialist neurophysiotherapists have said. While the effects of Long COVID are still being realised, with the condition only recently being recognised as a lasting impact of COVID-19, accepted symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, joint or muscle pain, dizziness, depression or anxiety and pins and needles.

The Queen’s Nursing Institute has published a resource for community nurses caring for people living with Covid-19.

Commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the resource is called ‘Living with Covid-19 (Long Covid) and Beyond’. It provides information to support nurses working in community, care homes and primary care and also to the wider multi-disciplinary team including clinical knowledge, care responses and skills when caring for people during their recovery and rehabilitation. It is predicted that there will be a ‘new wave’ of physical, mental and emotional health challenges as individuals enter recovery from Covid-19 infection – and for some this is combined with issues resulting from the social and economic impact of lockdown, such as isolation and unemployment.