Grace Parraga’s phone has been ringing since Tuesday with calls from long-term COVID patients from across Canada, the US and the UK Parraga is the lead researcher on a new study that identified a microscopic abnormality in the lungs of long-term patients with COVID that may contribute to the prolonged respiratory distress they may experience after infection. Following the announcement of their findings, Parraga said people had contacted her, eagerly seeking further clarification on their long-term symptoms of COVID. Parraga, a professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University and the Tier 1 Canada Research Center for Lung Imaging, said the response was very humble. “We are doing this as scientists in the hope of helping people,” he said. The human lungs, the organ being examined in this study, accumulate 2,400 kilometers of airways inside them, Parraga explained. Across Canada, these airways would be large enough to start in Vancouver and reach Thunder Bay. “This is full inside you to allow you to live,” Parraga said. At the end of these air ducts there are 500 million airbags. When you inhale, oxygen moves in these tiny air sacs and jumps into your red blood cells. As you exhale, carbon dioxide is released from these cells and sent out of your body. Using a very high-resolution spatial MRI method, the research team was able to measure function at the top of these 500 million airbags. What they found is an unusually low red blood cell signal in the lungs of these long-term patients with COVID that affects their ability to breathe. Parraga said it is possible the tree blood vessel in the lungs has been blocked by tiny, tiny clots. “This is something you can’t see with chest x-rays or CT scans or any other method,” he said. The study was conducted in five centers across Ontario that house this MRI technology and observed 34 long-term COVID patients. Parraga said her team is now focusing on translating her work into other centers across Canada that also have the technology, such as BC Children’s Hospital and St. Louis. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Long-awaited data
So far, Parraga has said that COVID has been a troublesome infection for a long time. Typical clinical trials cannot find this tiny clue that something is wrong. “Laity [with long COVID] look normal. “A chest x-ray looks normal, a CT scan looks normal,” he said. “This is the first proof that something is not normal.” The study’s findings serve as relief, Parraga said. As a researcher, she said it is encouraging to find something they understand and is consistent with their prior understanding of lung infections. “If you do not feel well, you can not go to the mailbox and think straight, you start to wonder if it is on your mind,” he said. “I think the doctors were worried and that really started us on this hunt.” Parraga said she believes the study gives people hope, knowing that this abnormality is something that doctors can understand and deal with.
Next steps: treatment
The discovery is just the first step in the journey to treat patients with COVID-19 who have difficulty breathing. Following the publication of the study, Parraga said its focus is now shifting to determine why and how the factors of infection. “We have determined what, where and when. [Now]”Clinical people will use this information to target treatments.” Parraga said it intends to continue monitoring the study participants “for as long as they want to come to the lab”. By participating, he hopes to answer questions such as why some people are sensitive to long-term COVID and what is going to happen to these patients in the long run. Meanwhile, Parraga and her team take some time to reflect on their success in a unique way, as they share their results with the study participants. “We created a word cloud from their emails back to us… [with] “words like understanding, thank you, congratulations, thoughtful,” he said. “It was very humble and satisfying to see that.” “It simply came to our notice then. To help people. “
title: “Do You Feel Distressed By The Long Term Covid Treatment May Be Available Soon " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-21” author: “Alex Rangel”
Grace Parraga’s phone has been ringing since Tuesday with calls from long-term COVID patients from across Canada, the US and the UK Parraga is the lead researcher on a new study that identified a microscopic abnormality in the lungs of long-term patients with COVID that may contribute to the prolonged respiratory distress they may experience after infection. Following the announcement of their findings, Parraga said people had contacted her, eagerly seeking further clarification on their long-term symptoms of COVID. Parraga, a professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University and the Tier 1 Canada Research Center for Lung Imaging, said the response was very humble. “We are doing this as scientists in the hope of helping people,” he said. The human lungs, the organ being examined in this study, accumulate 2,400 kilometers of airways inside them, Parraga explained. Across Canada, these airways would be large enough to start in Vancouver and reach Thunder Bay. “This is full inside you to allow you to live,” Parraga said. At the end of these air ducts there are 500 million airbags. When you inhale, oxygen moves in these tiny air sacs and jumps into your red blood cells. As you exhale, carbon dioxide is released from these cells and sent out of your body. Using a very high-resolution spatial MRI method, the research team was able to measure function at the top of these 500 million airbags. What they found is an unusually low red blood cell signal in the lungs of these long-term patients with COVID that affects their ability to breathe. Parraga said it is possible the tree blood vessel in the lungs has been blocked by tiny, tiny clots. “This is something you can’t see with chest x-rays or CT scans or any other method,” he said. The study was conducted in five centers across Ontario that house this MRI technology and observed 34 long-term COVID patients. Parraga said her team is now focusing on translating her work into other centers across Canada that also have the technology, such as BC Children’s Hospital and St. Louis. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Long-awaited data
So far, Parraga has said that COVID has been a troublesome infection for a long time. Typical clinical trials cannot find this tiny clue that something is wrong. “Laity [with long COVID] look normal. “A chest x-ray looks normal, a CT scan looks normal,” he said. “This is the first proof that something is not normal.” The study’s findings serve as relief, Parraga said. As a researcher, she said it is encouraging to find something they understand and is consistent with their prior understanding of lung infections. “If you do not feel well, you can not go to the mailbox and think straight, you start to wonder if it is on your mind,” he said. “I think the doctors were worried and that really started us on this hunt.” Parraga said she believes the study gives people hope, knowing that this abnormality is something that doctors can understand and deal with.
Next steps: treatment
The discovery is just the first step in the journey to treat patients with COVID-19 who have difficulty breathing. Following the publication of the study, Parraga said its focus is now shifting to determine why and how the factors of infection. “We have determined what, where and when. [Now]”Clinical people will use this information to target treatments.” Parraga said it intends to continue monitoring the study participants “for as long as they want to come to the lab”. By participating, he hopes to answer questions such as why some people are sensitive to long-term COVID and what is going to happen to these patients in the long run. Meanwhile, Parraga and her team take some time to reflect on their success in a unique way, as they share their results with the study participants. “We created a word cloud from their emails back to us… [with] “words like understanding, thank you, congratulations, thoughtful,” he said. “It was very humble and satisfying to see that.” “It simply came to our notice then. To help people. “
