Amna: Last fall, president Biden
said the pandemic was over, and
judging how most Americans are
living their lives, they agree,
even though the virus is killing
about 2000 Americans every week.
As William brangham reports, a
broader impact is being borne by
the untold millions who have
survived their infection but
suffer from the troubling
condition of long covid.
William: The specter of long
covid with its mysterious cause
and an unknown duration haunts
millions of people.
We will hear from a person who
treats this condition, but
first, let's hear from some who
are suffering.
>> One day, I woke up and felt
like I had the flu.
I had bodyaches and congestion
and everything.
It felt like a flu I had before,
so I didn't think anything of
it.
As the weeks went by, I noticed
the symptoms were not going
away.
>> Physically come along covid
has ruined my life.
There's no other way to say
that.
Many days I still cannot get out
of bed.
I now have chronic migraines.
I am constantly getting dizzy,
constantly going to the er
because I have fallen.
My joints hurt all the time.
That is what people don't
realize, how much pain is
involved.
>> After having covid the first
time and recovering fine, I
assumed having it again wouldn't
be a problem because I was ok
during my first infection, and I
couldn't have been more wrong.
Now I have these debilitating
symptoms, and there is no
treatment and no cure for it.
Doctors don't know what to do.
>> I worked through it.
The first year and a half, the
only thing I could do was work,
and the rest of the day I was
pretty much out cold.
I got reinfected in September of
2021 with delta, and for most of
last year, I couldn't get off
the couch.
>> I started to have a heart
attack symptoms.
I did end up going to the er
because I've never experienced
any of these symptoms before in
my life.
Every time I would go to doctors
or the hospital, they would say,
you are fine.
>> I have tried dozens of
medications and dozens of
therapies.
I went through dozens of
doctors.
I finally have a great team of
doctors who believe me and are
doing everything they can to
treat me, but I am completely
house-bound.
>> I have shortness of breath
every day.
That is one of the most
frustrating parts, doctors don't
know what to do with you.
>> Financially, it has been
devastating.
My husband is my full-time
caretaker.
He can't leave me alone for long
periods lifetime because I fall.
We don't have our business
anymore.
If it was not for the help of
friends and family and the
community, we wouldn't be able
to survive at all.
>> I am able to walk, but I am
not able to do any exercise.
Even just the thought of getting
a job, I wish I could work and
live a life like most other
able-bodied people.
>> I ran out of short-term
disability.
I cannot work.
The social worker I talked to
said, don't bother applying for
long-term disability because you
are going to get denied.
>> My friends and family have
been very supportive, but to
watch your life go down the
drain is very depressing.
People do not understand if you
get long covid, it debilitate's
you to some degree.
You are done for.
There is no help coming your
way.
Geoff: That is a small snapshot
of the kinds of symptoms people
are dealing with now.
For more, we are joined by a
neuroscientist and physical
therapist, director of
rehabilitation at the mount
sinai health system, thank you
so much for being here.
You heard those voices of people
and what they are struggling
with.
Do the stories are familiar with
the kinds of people you deal
with everyday.
David: Sadly, this is a common
story.
This is what we are hearing
every day.
We have seen over 3000 people
with a covid, and what I heard
is a very good representation of
what we are dealing with
everyday.
Geoff: In a recent commentary
you authored, you noted that
there are more than 200 symptoms
associated with long covid,
affecting virtually every organ
system.
Are there proven treatments that
help?
How do you help people who are
suffering from a myriad of
symptoms?
>> It is a great question and
one we are working out as we go.
Covid is a subset of conditions.
Take a lot of care in our clinic
to understand what type of
subtype we are looking at.
Based on those, we offer
different treatments.
All we can do right now is
symptom management, and we can
do a good job of that, making
people feel a lot better with
the symptoms that they have, but
we are not curing them.
We are getting them to a point
where they may be able to leave
the house, but the underlying
cause is still there.
Geoff: That is such a
distressing die sis cyst.
I know the national institutes
of health has a project looking
into this.
What does the best research
telus as to why this is
happening to people?
>> There is a lot of uncertainty
about the causes of long covid,
but what we know for sure is
that long covid is an organic
disease.
The virus has changed things
within the body.
There are three or four
different ways the virus can
change the body's physiology and
lead to the symptoms we are
experiencing, but what we
understand very clearly is that
this is not a psychological
illness.
This is an illness that has been
caused by the body responding to
a previously unknown virus.
The immune system has become
dis-regulated as a result of the
virus, and it is leading to
highly debilitating symptoms.
I am optimistic we can close and
on some therapies for people
with long covid, but we need the
public to understand that dying
is not your only risk of
serious, life-changing problems
from covid.
We need the government helping
in infection prevention so that
my clinic doesn't become even
more overwhelmed in the coming
months and years.
Geoff: I have to imagine in
addition to physical symptoms
there has to be a great deal of
depression with all the
mysteries you are discussing,
plus this notion that the
country has moved on while they
are in the middle of this.
>> Many people with long covid
are experiencing a traumatic
transition from previously being
fully healthy, never having a
serious medical condition in
their lives and transitioning to
being completely debilitated,
dependent on friends and family,
as we heard in the last clip,
just for basic survival here
that is a tough transition to
have to make.
In our clinic, we try to make
sure that in addition to care
and research to treat the
underlying causes of the
illness, we are also doing our
best to provide psychological
support and social support, with
the understanding that this is
not the overall cause, the
transition from nondisabled to
disabled is challenging.
Geoff: David petrenko, thank you
for being here.