In a new study from Flow Therapy, researchers found in long COVID-19 patients, those who used 15-35 hours of enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) therapy showed improvement of a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, breathing difficulties, and chest discomfort.
EECP is a non-invasive technique shown to improve cardiac and cerebral perfusion.
Patients undergoing EECP arrive at the clinic to lay on a treatment table and are fitted with three sets of pneumatic cuffs on the calves, thighs and lower hip area.
A 3-lead electrocardiogram is used as the mechanism for the cuffs to inflate sequentially, from the calves up to the hips during the resting phase of the heart. At the onset of the contraction phase of the heart, the cuffs deflate at the same time.
This prescribed inflation and deflation pushes oxygen-rich blood throughout the heart muscle and the rest of the body.
A patient undergoes a treatment session for one hour, with up to 35 treatment sessions over the course of seven weeks.
The team says long COVID is a disease that impacts the health of vessels, also known as endothelial function.
EECP is a disease-modifying, non-invasive therapy that has previously been shown to improve endothelial function.
This is the most plausible explanation for the benefits derived from EECP and the link to long COVID.
Globally, an estimated 50% of COVID-19 patients experience lingering symptoms six months after the acute phase of COVID-19 infection, with the long-term symptoms varying in severity.
In the study, the team tested 50 long COVID patients who received EECP treatment.
They found strong improvements across all validated testing tools, including Fatigue levels, Shortness of Breath, Walking capacity, Functional capacity and so on.
Remarkably, all patients at this point were able to successfully return back to work after undergoing treatment.
These patients also showed improvement in ‘brain fog,’ which is a common symptom of long COVID.
The researchers are excited about continuing to analyze this data and share it in the future.
If you care about long COVID, please read studies about why some people get ‘long COVID’ while others don’t, and how Long COVID could harm your immune system.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about vitamin K that may lower your heart disease risk by a third, and results showing that people with these mental problems less likely to get COVID-19.
The study was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Cardiovascular Summit virtual conference and was conducted by Sachin A. Shah et al.
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