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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.