2w ago

Long-Covid Patients Are Frustrated That Federal Research Hasn't Found New Treatments

kffhealthnews.org Long-Covid Patients Are Frustrated That Federal Research Hasn't Found New Treatments - KFF Health News

The federal government has allocated $1.15 billion to long-covid research without any new treatments yet brought to market. Patients and scientists say it’s time to push harder for breakthroughs.

Along with claiming the lives of 1.2 million Americans, the covid-19 pandemic has been described as a mass disabling event.

Estimates of prevalence range considerably, depending on how researchers define long covid in a given study, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts it at 17 million adults.

Despite long covid’s vast reach, the federal government’s investment in researching the disease — to the tune of $1.15 billion as of December — has so far failed to bring any new treatments to market.

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As someone with Long COVID myself, I’m unsure this article is approaching it from the right angle.
Treatments don’t just come easy, they take massive monetary investment and lots of time, AIDS took 2 decades of 1 billion + per year invested.
I’m more frustrated that we’ve only had a small amount invested (yes 1.15 billion sounds like a lot, but for something that has disabled about 0.5-3% of the population so much they had to stop working, it’s actually miniscule), and so we haven’t even figured out any mechanisms. (Without knowing mechanisms, finding treatments is like throwing random shit at the wall and seeing what sticks). I’m also frustrated that people in Trump’s administration are denying long COVID is a thing or blaming it on mental health.
- Sorry to hear about your long COVID :(
  Your point is spot on. It’s not even guarantee that we find a solution… you can’t just ask scientist to science faster. The problem is with lackluster investments and also expectations that everything can be fixed with enough money thrown at it :(
  
  Yep. But time and money massively increase the odds something is found.
  Given long COVID is costing about 1 trillion per year* in lost growth, I’m surprised the capitalists aren’t taking it seriously.
  *https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03173-6
  
  I agree 100%
- That throwing random shit at the wall really sticks with me ATM, currently trialing my 3rd expirimental med for an upcoming clinic and it's all just medication somebody received for other purposes that also seemed to have a positive effect on their longcovid symptoms.
  So far none have been satisfactory but hey we keep trying.
  
  I tried that until some treatments my doctor prescribed permanently worsened my condition.
  I don’t know why we’re in such an expirmental treatment mindset around long COVID but it certainly fucked up my health real bad.
  I’m fucking tubefed now.
  
  Ah that sucks to hear, in my case it was 2 years of doctors recommending to keep pushing my boundaries which let to it worsening severely, sadly had to drop out of uni in my final year.
  Until I got one of our countries leading experts who is now using me as a guinea pig so to speak. Expirimental meds did worsen some parts of it, but luckily that faded each time I stopped taking them.
  Currently praying I don't get male lactation and man boob growth which is one of the possible side effects of the current test XD

16 comments