It’s in the blood: Researchers discover new way to diagnose long-term COVID CBC News

Researchers in London, Ontario have uncovered the secret of diagnosing long COVID — and it’s in the blood.

The Lawson Health Research Institute team found “unique blood biomarkers” in long COVID patients and is now working to develop a unique blood test for wider use. The discovery could lead to new treatments and drugs for long COVID patients, researchers say.

“It has tremendous implications as the number of long-duration COVID patients increases,” said Dr. Douglas Fraser, Lawson scientist and critical care physician at the London Health Sciences Centre.

Long COVID affects about 30 to 40 percent of people who have had COVID-19 infection, he said. “The last estimate I saw in the US was that 111,000 patients were being diagnosed every day, and that’s based on clinical grounds.”

“It’s a significant problem and a growing problem.”

Those suffering from long COVID may experience fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive and gastrointestinal issues. Symptoms can appear weeks or months after initial COVID-19 infection and affect multiple organs, including the brain, heart, and lungs.

A new test would make diagnosis quick and easy

The study, published in Journal of Molecular Medicine on Monday examined 140 blood samples from participants at the London Health Sciences Center and St Joseph’s Health Care in London – some with suspected long-term COVID, hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and controls.

The researchers focused on studying blood vessels because they’re “the one part of the body that connects all the different organs,” Fraser said. They discovered that patients with long-term COVID 14 had elevated biomarkers related to blood vessels.

“Our theory is that after COVID-19, the blood vessels are quite injured and not only trying to heal themselves, but also trying to find healthy tissue left over after the disease,” he said.

Currently, a long COVID diagnosis is typically made clinically based on symptoms. The team is now working to develop a “point-of-care” test that will allow people to get a diagnosis “very easily and very quickly”. It could be used in emergency clinics, general practitioner offices, or off the shelf, said Fraser, who is also a professor at Western University.

The test would offer some big benefits, he said. “It allows you to give your patient certainty about what is going on. It also stops the myriad of tests that clinicians run when someone comes to you with very vague, diffuse symptoms.”

The research could also lead to new treatments for the disease, along with “repurposed” drugs that may already be available. Drugs that affect blood vessel growth are currently available, so it’s now possible to study whether they’re helpful for patients with long-term COVID-19, he said.

‘The sooner the better’

The study is encouraging news for patient Wendi Heal, who has been ill with COVID for a long time.

The 70-year-old said a new diagnostic test would be “monumental”.

“Early intervention is really, really important for any cognitive or brain disorder,” she said. “The sooner you get to rehabilitation services, the better your outcomes will be.”

“With long COVID, that would mean you could get the treatments you used to need.”

Once a jazz singer and long-distance runner, her battle with the long-term COVID has changed her life. For a time, she couldn’t walk through her kitchen without huffing and puffing, she said.

She has been suffering since being hospitalized with COVID-19 at Victoria Hospital in December 2020. “That’s a year and 10 months that I’m still dealing with some issues,” Heal said.

Today she still lives with fatigue and brain fog.

She is fortunate to have support in managing her symptoms through the post-acute COVID-19 program at St Joseph’s Health Care in London. She’s been given access to respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and neurological support, she said. For them, a diagnosis came much easier than some.

“I had the best care I could have ever received, and I know it sounds strange, but I feel fortunate that I was able to be in the hospital and have access to these programs from the start,” she said.

She knows others who weren’t so lucky. Without diagnosis, supports are more difficult to access.

“I feel sympathy for people who could not get this help,” she said.