Calgary researchers explore association between COVID-19 long-haulers, autonomic disorders
Dani Pohn, 37, caught COVID-19 in June 2020. Close to a year-and-a-half later, she is free of the virus, but still suffers long-term effects of the disease. She is what most people refer to as a "long-hauler."
"It's frustrating. I''ve lost a lot of the ability to live my day-to-day life the way I used to," said Pohn, a respiratory therapist. "The fatigue really limits how much I can do on a day-to-day basis. Activity wise, I'm unable to stand up as long as I used to and so that's really limiting."
The lingering symptoms of COVID-19 have kept her from her work at the Peter Lougheed Centre in northeast Calgary, where she would likely be treating COVID-19 patients.
"It's precluded my ability to go back to work, I find I have about two good hours on a daily basis, where I can focus and maybe do an errand or two. After that, I start to get quite fatigued. If I'm not laying down by 1 (p.m.), I feel absolutely sick. My heart is pounding, I'm flushed, I feel nauseous. I feel like it's difficult to get a breath in."
Pohn was part of the outbreak at a condo in Calgary's East Village. She describes her bout with the virus as mild to moderate and her symptoms included extreme fatigue, headaches and a loss of smell. The initial symptoms lasted less than a month. At that point, she was officially listed as "recovered" but though she was free of the virus, she was not free of its effects on her body.
"In about October (2020), my recovery plateaued and there was no more increase of the improvement at that time," said Pohn. "So it was around that time when I thought this might be longer lasting than I originally thought it would be.
“I reached a plateau and realized nothing was changing. I continued to feel exhausted, have shortness of breath and tachycardia that just hasn’t gone away."
Pohn is now seeking treatment at a Calgary long-haul COVID-19 clinic, the Calgary Autonomic Investigation & Management Clinic in the Cumming School of Medicine, which treats individuals suffering with autonomic problems like tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), unregulated blood pressure and fainting.
Pohn is now a patient advisor for a study led by Cumming School of Medicine researcher Dr. Satish Raj, who is investigating how individuals suffering with long COVID-19 seem to develop problems with their autonomic nervous system.
"The autonomic nervous system takes care of background functions in the body," explained Raj. "One of the challenges with saying 'Is it working or not?', is it affects almost everything. So things like heart rate regulation, blood vessel tone, breathing, sweating, sleeping, to some extent, bowel function, bladder function, all the things that we need to work for ourselves to function properly, but things that we don't want to think about."
Raj, who is also a clinician at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, has seen a noticeable increase in patients seeking treatment at the Calgary Autonomic Investigation & Management Clinic since the pandemic began. He is hopeful his research will lead to treatments for long-haul COVID-19 sufferers.
"The challenge is there are no evidence-based treatments for long-COVID or late COVID POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) because it's so new. There hasn't been time to do studies. But at the same time, from a patient point of view, it's not reasonable to say 'sit tight' or 'we'll get back to you in 10 years' because the patients are suffering right now.
"These are people in the prime of their life, highly functioning members of society who may no longer be able to contribute to the full extent of their training and prior ability."
The study is currently recruiting. If you have long-haul COVID-19 symptoms and are interested in participating in the study, you can find out more by emailing autonomic.research@ucalgary.ca.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. child killer's lawyer walks out of review hearing
The lawyer representing child-killer Allan Schoenborn walked out of his client's annual review hearing Wednesday – abruptly ending proceedings marked by tense exchanges and several outbursts.
Why drivers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will see a gas price spike, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
It's the biggest election in history. Here's why few Indians in Canada will take part
In the Indian general election that gets underway on Friday, almost a billion people are eligible to vote, but a vast majority of the overseas Indian community in Canada won't be casting a ballot.
McDonald's customers left with 'zero value' collection of free hot drink stickers after company ends program
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.
Juror dismissed in Trump hush money trial as prosecutors ask for former president to face contempt
Prosecutors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump asked Thursday for the former president to be held in contempt and fined because of seven social media posts that they said violated a judge's gag order barring him from attacking witnesses.
Toxic forever chemicals in drinking water: Is Canada doing enough?
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.