Advertise on podcast: TLC Sessions - Living with Long Covid

Physiatrist Benjamin Abramoff, M.D. is the Director and Co-founder of the Post Covid Assessment and Recovery Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. An Assistant Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilition, Abramoff used his expertise to co-author the study, published in Cell, that found that serotonin depletion is prevalent in Long Covid patients.   In this week’s episode, Abramoff talks us through the findings of their study, the hypothesis of what drives the depletion, the impacts that this has on the body, and preliminary ideas of what might help, both symptomatically and to address the root cause of the disease that seems to be viral persistance. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Tim Henrich is a Professor of Medicine and expert in infectious diseases, focused on chronic viral infections at the University of California, San Francisco. He is another member of the titan Long Covid research team who have tracked patients since the beginning of the pandemic (LIINC study) and are making roads into understanding the mechanism of the disease and potentials for treating it. In this week’s episode he talks us through some of the exciting work that he is doing, alongside our previous guests Steven Deeks & Michael Peluso.  Using a combination of longitudinal studies, biopsies and high resolution PET / CT imaging, the team have established changes to t cells throughout the bodies of Long Covid patients, and found evidence of viral persistence.  They are currently conducting multiple clinical trials including monoclonal antibodies to act on viral reservoirs, and the anti-viral Ensitrelvir which has undergone several trials in active SARS-COV2 previously, and believe that they are getting to grips with the pathophysiology of the disease. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

A supplement to Episode 68 - Consultant Neurologist Steven Allder of Re:Cognition Health discusses the way that injury to the brain causes anxiety and depression in Traumatic Brain Injury and could explain some of the mental health impact of Long Covid. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

A supplement to Episode 68 - Consultant Neurologist Steven Allder of Re:Cognition Health explains what tinnitus is and why we are experiencing it in Long Covid. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Consultant Neurologist Steven Allder of Re:Cognition Health has applied his wealth of experience investigating Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) to understanding the impact of Long Covid on the brain. In this week’s conversation we discuss inflammation of the brain of Long Covid patients which is visible using PET imaging;  Allder believes this inflammation could be driving the neurological symptoms, and beyond, in a similar way to the impact of a blow to the head observing numerous similarities to TBI; we discuss polyvagal nerve theory; and Allder explains the way in which it takes more than just cold, hard evidence to persuade the scientific community. And following up on our previous episode, Dr Allder is working with Prof. Andrew Shaw at Attomarker, believing that Long Covid may be driven by viral persistence and that establishing a patient’s antibody gap, using the Attomarker testing, could enable us to remove viral residue with tailored antibody treatment. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Professor Andrew Shaw, University of Exeter, believes that he has devised a diagnostic test for Long Covid.  His company, Attomarker, have developed a test which can reveal a gap in a patient’s antibody spectrum – their response to acute SARS-COV2 from a finger prick of blood. This gap, he says, has lead to a viral residue that causes the chronic symptoms of Long Covid.  Their hypothesis is that the gap can then be filled, either with monoclonal antibodies, or with an appropriate vaccine, to rid the patient of the disease. In this week’s episode we explore the theories of antibody response to the strains of Covid, the effects of the vaccine, the results that the Attomarker test and treatment which is being offered by Re:Cognition Health have so far yielded.   Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Imperial College Professor of Immunology, Danny Altmann  recently published “The immunology of long COVID”, a fantastically comprehensive overview in Nature Reviews Immunology.  In this week’s episode Altmann, to whom we first spoke in the summer of 2021, talks us through some of the highlights of the work he's reviewed - serotonin depletion, gut biopsy findings, anti-virals, monoclonal antibodies and T cell depletion, along with his impression of a wide range of issues facing Long Covid sufferers, doctors and researchers – the state of patient care, vaccines, and the lack of funding for large scale studies and trials. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Dr. Amy Proal is the President and Research Director of PolyBio Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation that brings together some of the brightest scientific minds to research how infection-associated chronic conditions are studied, diagnosed and treated.  Their work into Long Covid is bringing together some of the leaders in the field to accelerate studies and clinical trials to further develop understanding and treatment strategies for the condition.  In this week’s episode we talk to Dr. Proal about the current most prominent mechanistic theory of viral persistence in tissues, PolyBio’s research into anti-viral therapeutics, and SARS-COV2 strategies that could help us to prevent Long Covid, rather than having to constantly clear up the increasing residue for years to come. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Michael Peluso M.D., an HIV and infectious disease specialist at UCSF, has been studying Long Covid patients since April 2020 (LIINC Study).  This, along with his history of working with HIV and other viruses, has given him the knowledge and methods to make some break-throughs into Long Covid pathogenesis, effects and, potentially, treatments.  He, along with his team, has established that Long Covid causes T-cell and immune dysregulation and he has used multimodal molecular imaging to reveal that viral RNA reservoirs are persistent in Long Covid patients.  With the aim of clearing this viral debris, Peluso is now leading a clinical trial using a monoclonal antibody infusion. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Eric Topol must be one of the leading voices in Long Covid advocacy.  Cardiologist, scientist, author, editor-in-chief of Medscape, and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, Topol has written about Long Covid in publications from The Lancet and Nature, to The Washington Post.  As a clinician a large proportion of his patients are now Long Covid sufferers and he spends a huge amount of his time pushing for advancements in Long Covid treatment and prevention.  In this week’s episode Dr. Topol guides us through his frustrations surrounding the lack of urgency with which the world is treating this condition, the use of Metformin as a preventative therapy, his understandings of the mechanisms of Long Covid, and how we could make significant advancements by embracing digital data collection and technology. The Long Covid review which he authored with PLRC and Julia More Vogel, published in March this year, is now the third most downloaded medical paper of 2023. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Harlan Krumholtz, cardiologist and Professor of Medicine at Yale University, is attempting to move the needle when it comes to patient-centric care in Long Covid and beyond.  Working closely with immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, Krumholz not only looks at the heart when it comes to his research into Long Covid. Together this Long Covid power couple are trying to design studies and trials considering the patient first and foremost. In this week’s episode we discuss his latest studies: the LISTEN study, a 15-day trial into Paxlovid for treating Long Covid, and his paper, currently in preprint, looking into internal tremors and vibrations in Long Covid. With a broad understanding of the disease and its effects on patients, his knowledge of the illness goes far beyond the heart, whilst, once again, displaying this humility and humanity we are seeing amongst some of the most prominent medical professionals who are carrying the torch for Long Covid patients.   Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions

Credited as being the founder of functional medicine, Dr Leo Galland has spent the past 40 years trying to create a patient-centred version of healthcare. Using pharmaceuticals, supplements, lifestyle and complimentary therapies he has drawn on his vast knowledge of patients and holistic healing, to create a comprehensive protocol for Long Covid patients.  Designed to remove any active virus, rebuild our natural stores and repair the misfiring of our cells, Dr Galland’s method has been effective in helping people to recover from disease. In this episode we discuss his wide ranging knowledge, including diving into ACE2 which he believes drives the disease, discussing the complexities of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, and getting his impartial opinion on some of the supplements or treatment strategies we’ve previously featured. Living with Long Covid? How was your week? Website - https://www.tlcsessions.net/ Twitter - @SessionsTlc https://twitter.com/sessionstlc Insta - @tlcsessions https://www.instagram.com/tlcsessions