Chronic Lyme disease may have lessons about long COVID.

We recently read an interesting article that detailed some striking similarities between chronic Lyme disease and what clinicians are currently seeing in patients who develop long COVID, also referred to as post-acute COVID 19 syndrome (PACS).1

Symptoms are similar and can be very complex in both disorders; some of the issues may include, but are not limited to:
 

• Severe fatigue and malaise
• Brain fog and confusion
• Neuropathic pain
• Dysautonomia, a dysfunction of the nerves that regulate involuntary body functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and sweating.
• Neuropsychiatric issues
• Headaches

 
Dr. Bruce Patterson and his team have developed a novel protocol to treat long haulers – and this approach has been found to have excellent results in nearly 500 chronic Lyme sufferers who were treated with the same therapy.
 
Additional studies are planned going forward, but perhaps now we may find that in many cases of chronic Lyme that the pathophysiology actually extends well beyond what was once presumed to be solely a biotoxin infection. As we have learned in long COVID and discussed in our long COVID blog series, the ongoing mechanisms of this disorder are indeed multifactorial. Some of these include increased oxidative stress, immune dysregulation, autoantibodies, mitochondrial disease, high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, mast cell activation, reactivation of latent viruses, and more.
 
As scientists further study the current and ever-evolving health events, the acquired information could shed light on other conditions and help identify appropriate treatments for even more patients. Stay tuned as we all continue to learn together!
 
In health and healing,
Dr. Suzanne Gazda
 
For additional reading about some of the topics mentioned in this blog, stop by our blog archives or use the “Search” tool on any website page to find other articles about neurology disorders:
 
Lyme disease
https://www.suzannegazdamd.com/blog/lyme-disease-can-an-infection-trigger-neuropsychiatric-symptoms
 
Immune dysregulation
https://www.suzannegazdamd.com/scientifically-speaking1/the-dysregulated-immune-system-response-when-neural-signaling-goes-awry
 
https://www.suzannegazdamd.com/blog/immune-dysregulation-requires-rapid-response-to-affect-better-outcomes
 
References:
 
1 Kinderlehrer, D., MD. What Can Chronic Lyme Disease Teach Us About Long Covid? Psychology Today. (January 29, 2022) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/recovery-lyme/202201/what-can-chronic-lyme-disease-teach-us-about-long-covid