An holistic approach to the post-viral syndrome of long-COVID
Bradley McEwen | PhD , MHSc ( Hum Nutr ), BHSc , ND ( Adv ), DBM , DNutr , DSM , M . ATMS , Naturopath , Nutritionist , and Mentor . Adjunct Senior Lecturer , Faculty of Health , Southern Cross University .
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) is an acute and chronic condition . Long-COVID is a post-viral syndrome . Some of the symptoms of long-COVID include fatigue , headache , dyspnoea , cough , stress , depression , anxiety , cognitive difficulties , memory issues , muscle and joint pain , nerve pain , disrupted sleep , loss of smell and taste , and digestive disorders . Vitamedicine is a personalised person-centred holistic system of health care with a core set of philosophies , principles , and practices . Vitamedicine looks at the whole person , physically , mentally , emotionally , socially , and environmentally , and focuses on the person ’ s individual needs . In this article , diet , nutritional , herbal , and lifestyle medicines that can be utilised for the management of long-COVID are briefly discussed .
Introduction
Coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ) is a global pandemic . 1-3 Apart from the global disease burden of acute COVID-19 disease , the health complications arising after recovery have been recognised as a long-COVID or post-COVID-19 syndrome . 4 Long-COVID can be defined as signs and symptoms persisting beyond 12 weeks from the date of onset . 4-6 Vitamedicine is a personalised personcentred holistic system of health care with a core set of philosophies , principles , and practices . 7 Vitamedicine looks at the whole person , physically , mentally , emotionally , socially , and environmentally , and focuses on the person ’ s individual needs . 7 Vitamedicine is integrative in nature . 7 This article aims to shed light on the post-viral syndrome of COVID-19 and presents a brief ( but not exhaustive ) guide on how nutritional , herbal , and lifestyle medicine can be utilised for the management of long-COVID .
COVID-19 and Post-Viral Syndrome
Coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus ( SARS‐CoV-2 )) commenced with an unusual outbreak in December 2019 1-3 and quickly spread into a worldwide pandemic . 1 , 2 SARS-CoV-2 hijacks the host cellular machinery for viral RNA replication and protein production . COVID-19 load usually reaches its peak symptom load within the initial weeks of infection . SARS- CoV-2 first becomes detectable by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction ( RT-PCR ) within the first week of infection . 8 Some of the
138 | vol28 | no3 | JATMS