New Hope for Covid Long-Haulers
New research offers hope to Covid long-haulers, people who have lingering symptoms of Covid-19 long after they've recovered from the viral infection.
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The long-term effects of Covid-19 on people known as Covid long-haulers are gaining more attention, with the U.S. government considering adding long-haul Covid-19 to the Americans with Disabilities Act. and scientists working to discover ways to alleviate lingering symptoms.
To that end, a new Turkish study has found that sniffing coffee can help Covid-19 long-haulers to recover some of their sense of smell, at least temporarily. Among participants, 13 percent regained their ability to smell normally, while most of the others experienced different degrees of improvement, for at least an hour. The study tested Turkish coffee, which is strong and unfiltered.
In April, Yale researchers began researching reports that the Covid vaccine may help alleviate symptoms of long-haul Covid. In fact, as many as 30–40 percent of long-haulers who get the vaccine have reported improvements to their symptoms. “I’ve heard from people who say they no longer have ‘brain fog,’ their gastrointestinal problems have gone away, or they stopped suffering from the shortness of breath they’ve been living with since being diagnosed with COVID-19,” says Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, the lead researcher on the new study. “That’s exciting news, and I want to learn more about why that’s happening.”