SALT LAKE CITY — Hospitals across the country are trying to obtain more data on patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome to better understand why some people experience it and others don’t.
According to the Mayo Clinic, one in five people between the ages of 18 and 64 has at least one medical condition because of COVID-19, between one month and one year after contracting the virus.
Intermountain Healthcare is part of a research initiative called Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER), which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dixie Harris, M.D., who specializes in pulmonary disease and sleep medicine at Intermountain Healthcare, says it’s very early on in the trial and they still need patient participation.
Dr. Harris has treated long COVID-19 patients since May 2020 and has seen hundreds since then.
“Between 20 [and] 50 percent of patients with long COVID have some sort of sleep issue,” she explained.
Insomnia, hypersomnia, restless legs syndrome, and nightmares as some of the most commonly reported problems linked to sleep, Harris said. Chronic COVID patients tend to have anxiety, too, which fuels sleep deprivation.
Harris explained long-haulers need around one to two additional hours of sleep per night than they did before they contracted the virus.
Shortness of breath is also a symptom that Harris says her patients report frequently, and it can last a long time.
“It’s very frustrating for patients because many times their x-rays are normal, especially if they were never hospitalized," she said. "Their breathing tests are still normal, but they’re still feeling shortness of breath.”
Harris said she is noticing signs of improvement recently, which includes seeing fewer patients with long-COVID symptoms.
“I’m seeing patients that are consistently getting better," she said. "It does take a long time. I’m seeing some patients a year out, but they are getting better.”
Harris attributes this to increased vaccination rates and the sheer number of people contracting COVID in the community.
A study conducted by University Hospitals, one of the nation’s leading healthcare systems, shows people who got the vaccine, but still contracted the virus, were less likely to develop “long COVID”.
Dr. Harris's' treatment plans for her patients with breathing and sleep issues are typically medicine-free. It’s more about education and teaching them about better bedtime habits and new breathing techniques.