This breakthrough has already happened so I think they are talking about other antibodiesI would love to know which antibodies they are talking about? Wouldn't it be amazing if they tied up with the recent study of Klaus Wirth and Carmen Scheibenbogen's findings of autoantibodies against the ß2AdR but I guess that is just me dreaming of a real breakthrough?
However it has to be encouraging that antibodies are even being mentioned in relation to Long Covid because so many researchers have found the possibility of antibodies playing a part in ME/CFS, at least in a subset of patients.
Pam
Scientists say they have detected irregularities in the blood of long Covid patients that could one day pave the way for a test for the condition.
Imperial College London researchers found a pattern of rogue antibodies in the blood of a small number of people with long Covid.
They hope it could lead to a simple blood test within six to 18 months.
Dr Elaine Maxwell, from the National Institute of Health Research, said the early findings were "exciting".
She said there could be "a number of different things happening after a Covid-19 infection" and an autoimmune response "has been one of the suspected mechanisms".
But she warned that long Covid was a "complex condition", saying it was important to continue to research the other causal factors so all different types of post-Covid syndrome could be diagnosed and treated.
Long Covid is not yet fully understood and can cover a range of symptoms lasting long after initial infection including fatigue, breathlessness, headaches and muscle pain.
There are currently no tests to diagnose long Covid.
Prof Danny Altmann, who is leading the research team at Imperial, said he believes the work will lead to a test which could be done in a doctor's surgery.
But he said he was concerned the UK government's plans to "live with" Covid-19 could be stoking the next wave of cases of the condition.
- More than 2m in England may have had long Covid
- Long Covid: Fears others will suffer when restrictions end
- Patients call for long Covid clinics in Wales
The government plans to end most coronavirus restrictions in England in a week's time, on 19 July.
But amid rising cases Prof Altmann warned that it is not yet known if vaccinations will protect people from long-term symptoms.
"If we're heading into a phase of 100,000 cases per day, and, we're saying that 10-20% of all infections can result in long Covid, I can see no certainty that we're not brewing those long Covid cases despite having a vaccinated population," he said.
'I had long Covid, and then caught Covid again'
media captionBBC reporter Lucy Adams explored long Covid in a film with Panorama
I am 44 years old - but in my body, I'm like someone twice my age.
I caught Covid in March last year. Having long Covid means I wake up in pain and go to bed with pain. I have vertigo, migraines and blurred vision.
After 11 hard months, I began to feel exactly as I had almost a year previously.
I went for a test and that evening I got an email saying I had Covid again.
Read Lucy's story here.
Why do you think improvement is the case for ME/CFS as well? What I read from people is that they improve a bit over a few years but not within the first year. Furthermore, I read today about research in Norway on Long COVID, and fatigue was only a symptom in 21% of cases. No taste and smell (a typical COVID symptom) in 28% cases. That tells a lot IMOI actually think it's the case for ME/CFS as well, depending on how you define 'improves over time' and such. I don't think they're different things at all (personally), but since they'll be treated as disparate disorders, we can only hope that some table scraps will fall down within our reach.
i think for most with ME, we would have improved in the beginning of our illness if we were told to rest and pace as a lot of the long haulers are being told right now (at least those in the forums who have found the long hauling community which offers great advice, advice i never had access to). at least, i know for certain i would not have become severe if i wasn’t gaslit by every doctor i saw and told to exercise, and if millions of people at once were developing my same illness and i could hear about it on the news and then find a wealth of information about it online and that it’s important to pace. i blame that solely for my worsening and am almost 100% sure i would have had a full recovery if i knew what pacing was in the beginning of my illness.For most people, like 80% is what I’ve read, long COVID improves over time, after a few months even. We all know for ME this is not the case
i think for most with ME, we would have improved in the beginning of our illness if we were told to rest and pace as a lot of the long haulers are being told right now
until we can define the illness properly and diagnose it accurately, any numbers or observations are a function of the yardstick used.
Improvement is the norm - for instance, many people who come down with viruses eventually get better.
(I can't see the reference supporting that affirmation).In both disorders neurotransmitter receptor antibodies against ß-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors may play a key role. We found similar elevation of these autoantibodies in both patient groups.
Could this news be related to this? :