Long covid clinics offer a lifeline for this isolating disease

Waters’ report on doctors with long covid shows that it is a profoundly incapacitating disease. The most debilitating symptoms (fatigue, post-exertional symptom exacerbation, cognitive dysfunction) compromise self-advocacy and are often met with misunderstanding and invalidation.1 Specialist long covid clinics are of tantamount importance.These clinics have accrued considerable experience over the past three years. Ideally they offer patients compassionate, non-judgmental assessment while acknowledging their brief is primarily diagnosis and rehabilitation. Clinics currently have the potential for limited degrees of management of downstream pathophysiological processes such as postural orthostatic tachycardia (POTS) and mast cell activation syndrome. Patients are directed to manage their symptoms and adjust to an often unsustainable new reality, but not with a view to full recovery (unless through the passage of time). Therapeutic interventions tackling the causes of long covid remain the subject of research, and any advances could swiftly be incorporated into future clinic protocols.It is alarming, however,…
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