Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients
Introduction. The severity and prevalence of Post-Acute COVID-19 Sequela (PACS) or long-COVID syndrome (long COVID) should not be a surprise. Long-COVID symptoms may be explained by oxidative stress and parasympathetic and sympathetic (P&S) dysfunction. This is a retrospective, hypothesis genera...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | NeuroSci |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4087/3/2/21 |
| _version_ | 1797483753709240320 |
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| author | Joseph Colombo Michael I. Weintraub Ramona Munoz Ashish Verma Ghufran Ahmad Karolina Kaczmarski Luis Santos Nicholas L. DePace |
| author_facet | Joseph Colombo Michael I. Weintraub Ramona Munoz Ashish Verma Ghufran Ahmad Karolina Kaczmarski Luis Santos Nicholas L. DePace |
| author_sort | Joseph Colombo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction. The severity and prevalence of Post-Acute COVID-19 Sequela (PACS) or long-COVID syndrome (long COVID) should not be a surprise. Long-COVID symptoms may be explained by oxidative stress and parasympathetic and sympathetic (P&S) dysfunction. This is a retrospective, hypothesis generating, outcomes study. Methods. From two suburban practices in northeastern United States, 152 long COVID patients were exposed to the following practices: (1) first, they were P&S tested (P&S Monitor 4.0; Physio PS, Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA) prior to being infected with COVID-19 due to other causes of autonomic dysfunction; (2) received a pre-COVID-19 follow-up P&S test after autonomic therapy; (3) then, they were infected with COVID-19; (4) P&S tested within three months of surviving the COVID-19 infection with long-COVID symptoms; and, finally, (5) post-COVID-19, follow-up P&S tested, again, after autonomic therapy. All the patients completed autonomic questionnaires with each test. This cohort included 88 females (57.8%), with an average age of 47.0 years (ranging from 14 to 79 years), and an average BMI of 26.9 #/in<sup>2</sup>. Results. More pre-COVID-19 patients presented with sympathetic withdrawal than parasympathetic excess. Post-COVID-19, these patients presented with this ratio reversed and, on average, 49.9% more autonomic symptoms than they did pre-COVID-19. Discussion. Both parasympathetic excess and sympathetic withdrawal are separate and treatable autonomic dysfunctions and autonomic treatment significantly reduces the prevalence of autonomic symptoms. Conclusion. SARS-CoV-2, via its oxidative stress, can lead to P&S dysfunction, which, in turn, affects the control and coordination of all systems throughout the whole body and may explain all of the symptoms of long-COVID syndrome. Autonomic therapy leads to positive outcomes and patient quality of life may be restored. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:51:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b1a776f90c7342978a6cbcfca3251f57 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:51:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroSci |
| spelling | doaj.art-b1a776f90c7342978a6cbcfca3251f572023-11-23T18:19:00ZengMDPI AGNeuroSci2673-40872022-05-013230031010.3390/neurosci3020021Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 PatientsJoseph Colombo0Michael I. Weintraub1Ramona Munoz2Ashish Verma3Ghufran Ahmad4Karolina Kaczmarski5Luis Santos6Nicholas L. DePace7Franklin Cardiovascular, Autonomic Dysfunction and POTS Center, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USADepartment Neurology and Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USAFranklin Cardiovascular, Autonomic Dysfunction and POTS Center, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USAFranklin Cardiovascular, Autonomic Dysfunction and POTS Center, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USAFranklin Cardiovascular, Autonomic Dysfunction and POTS Center, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USAFranklin Cardiovascular, Autonomic Dysfunction and POTS Center, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USANew Jersey Heart, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USAFranklin Cardiovascular, Autonomic Dysfunction and POTS Center, Sicklerville, NJ 08081, USAIntroduction. The severity and prevalence of Post-Acute COVID-19 Sequela (PACS) or long-COVID syndrome (long COVID) should not be a surprise. Long-COVID symptoms may be explained by oxidative stress and parasympathetic and sympathetic (P&S) dysfunction. This is a retrospective, hypothesis generating, outcomes study. Methods. From two suburban practices in northeastern United States, 152 long COVID patients were exposed to the following practices: (1) first, they were P&S tested (P&S Monitor 4.0; Physio PS, Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA) prior to being infected with COVID-19 due to other causes of autonomic dysfunction; (2) received a pre-COVID-19 follow-up P&S test after autonomic therapy; (3) then, they were infected with COVID-19; (4) P&S tested within three months of surviving the COVID-19 infection with long-COVID symptoms; and, finally, (5) post-COVID-19, follow-up P&S tested, again, after autonomic therapy. All the patients completed autonomic questionnaires with each test. This cohort included 88 females (57.8%), with an average age of 47.0 years (ranging from 14 to 79 years), and an average BMI of 26.9 #/in<sup>2</sup>. Results. More pre-COVID-19 patients presented with sympathetic withdrawal than parasympathetic excess. Post-COVID-19, these patients presented with this ratio reversed and, on average, 49.9% more autonomic symptoms than they did pre-COVID-19. Discussion. Both parasympathetic excess and sympathetic withdrawal are separate and treatable autonomic dysfunctions and autonomic treatment significantly reduces the prevalence of autonomic symptoms. Conclusion. SARS-CoV-2, via its oxidative stress, can lead to P&S dysfunction, which, in turn, affects the control and coordination of all systems throughout the whole body and may explain all of the symptoms of long-COVID syndrome. Autonomic therapy leads to positive outcomes and patient quality of life may be restored.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4087/3/2/21long COVIDparasympatheticsympatheticautonomic dysfunctionautonomic therapyoutcomes |
| spellingShingle | Joseph Colombo Michael I. Weintraub Ramona Munoz Ashish Verma Ghufran Ahmad Karolina Kaczmarski Luis Santos Nicholas L. DePace Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients NeuroSci long COVID parasympathetic sympathetic autonomic dysfunction autonomic therapy outcomes |
| title | Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients |
| title_full | Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients |
| title_fullStr | Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients |
| title_short | Long COVID and the Autonomic Nervous System: The Journey from Dysautonomia to Therapeutic Neuro-Modulation through the Retrospective Analysis of 152 Patients |
| title_sort | long covid and the autonomic nervous system the journey from dysautonomia to therapeutic neuro modulation through the retrospective analysis of 152 patients |
| topic | long COVID parasympathetic sympathetic autonomic dysfunction autonomic therapy outcomes |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4087/3/2/21 |
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