Free Republic

Researchers have pinpointed two proteins that could serve as markers for identifying patients with long COVID. Elahi and his team discovered that the long COVID group had higher levels of immune cells called neutrophils and monocytes that cause inflammation, and fewer protective lymphocytes. In the blood of the long COVID patients, the team also found higher levels of various proteins related to systemic inflammation—especially galectin-9 and artemin. Higher levels of galectin-9 in patients are associated with increased inflammation and brain fog. In the case of artemin, higher levels are associated with widespread pain, more severe pain and cognitive impairment. They...

A research team brings together experts in an effort to discover exactly what is ailing the sickest long COVID patients and find treatments for them. The team reports that a disproportionate number of people affected—nearly 70%—are female and face debilitating symptoms that are identical to chronic fatigue syndrome, now referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS. Blood samples show telltale amino acid deficiencies, suggesting readily available supplements have potential as therapy. "We do not actually believe that long COVID is a separate new disease," explains Jan Willem Cohen. Thirty patients had persistent severe long COVID symptoms 12 months...

Oncologists who treat prostate cancer have long been frustrated by a quagmire: They know they treat many men whose disease won't harm them, but at the same time they fail to catch aggressive cases that kill. There's no good way to separate the two right now, but in tomorrow's issue of Nature, a team at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, suggests a new strategy: Look for specific chemicals in urine that could distinguish among patients with no sign of disease, disease that isn't critical to treat, and disease that's most dangerous. Researchers have poured tremendous energy into early cancer...