The diseases Long Covid and ME/CFS overlap very strongly in terms of symptoms. ME/CFS occurs after viral infections in 50% of cases. Based on these facts, some researchers suspect that these two diseases are closely linked. A Charité study has shown that around half of the examined patients can be diagnosed with ME/CFS 6 months after a mild to moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most common symptom was post-extertional malaise (PEM).

Some researchers are even talking about post-Covid ME/CFS. Whether this is the same disease or whether the symptoms are just very similar needs further research. Irrespective of this, ME/CFS is receiving increased media and research attention as a result of Long Covid. This should give those affected hope, as ME/CFS was relatively unknown among doctors for a long time. For this reason, the path to diagnosis and treatment was and is often very long.

Long Covid

Long Covid, which often means post-Covid syndrome, describes a range of chronic symptoms, such as fatigue, which can occur after an acute illness. The term Long Covid means the prolonged existence of symptoms up to 12 weeks. If the symptoms persist even after 12 weeks, this is actually referred to as the so-called post-Covid syndrome. However, the two terms long Covid and post-Covid syndrome are often used synonymously.

Most sufferers report the following symptoms:

• long-lasting fatigue (severe exhaustion) and breathing difficulties (dyspnoea)
• cognitive impairment (so-called brain fog)

In addition, the following may also occur:

• muscle pain
• joint pain
• Heart palpitations/heart rhythm disorders/circulatory problems
• body aches
• loss of sense of taste and smell
• coughs
• headaches
• rash

If you have more on the topic Long Covid Would like to find out, feel free to take a look at our blog article.

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ME/CFS

The symptoms above are very similar to that of another chronic disease - ME/CFS. ME/CFS is the abbreviation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This is a neuroimmunological #nbsp; multi-system disease. One of the most common symptoms of ME/CFS is the so-called post-extertional malaise (PEM). This is an extreme form of fatigue (exhaustion) that can occur up to 48 hours after physical or mental exertion. Other symptoms in patients include:

• orthostasis intolerance (worsening of symptoms when changing to an upright posture: dizziness, weakness, rapid heartbeat or shortness of breath)
• Hypersensitivity to stimuli (e.g. light, odors, chemicals, food)

If you want to learn more about ME/CFS If you want to know, we have a blog article that you can take a look at.

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Symptomatology similarities

A review, i.e. a review that systematically summarizes and evaluates the results from previous studies, has shown: With 25 of 29 known ME/CFS symptoms, at least one study reported the same symptom in long Covid patients. This means an overlap of 86% between the two symptoms.

These include:

• Fatigue
• Post-exertional malaise
• Concentration problems and word finding disorders
• sleep problems
• pain (headache, muscle pain)

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Medical similarities

Recent studies regarding the similarity between post-Covid and ME/CFS show some medical similarities, such as:

• reduced deformability of red blood cells
• Reduced blood flow to the brain.
• reduced metabolism in the brain
• Dysfunction of the endothelium (innermost cell layer of blood vessels) with impaired oxygen supply to the tissues

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Differences between Long Covid and ME/CFS

There were a few symptoms that were described exclusively for ME/CFS or Long Covid within the review above. In the case of long Covid, this is the loss of sense of taste and smell and rashes.

Symptoms described in the review only for ME/CFS included hypersensitivity to stimuli such as light and odors, lymph node swelling and pain, tinnitus, and double vision. Motor skills problems were also only described in ME/CFS in the review. However, this can also be different in individual cases, as the clinical patterns overlap at many points.

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Treatment of Long Covid and ME/CFS

Due to the great similarities in the symptoms of the two diseases, the current guidelines also provide for similar, symptom-oriented therapy. This is based primarily on behavioral and exercise therapy measures to alleviate symptoms and prevent chronization.

It can be helpful for those affected to look at measures to reduce stress and adequate coping behavior. Coping means using methods to deal with symptoms even if you can't completely eliminate yourself. Roughly speaking, this means that those affected should do neither too much nor too little.

This includes pacing, for example, which is about better assessing one's own energy reserves. Each activity then pays attention to the individual energy level in order to avoid overexertion. In addition, exercise therapy with dosed physical training can be helpful to slowly become more efficient again. Cognitive training can counteract memory and word finding disorders.

Psychotherapeutic and drug therapies are used to treat other symptoms such as pain, circulatory problems, sleep problems or depressed mood.

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What's next?

Due to the large number of people affected, research into the treatment of Long Covid is in full swing. The media and interest groups have also addressed the problem and created attention for Long Covid and ME/CFS. On 04.05.22, the scientific service of the Bundestag published a statement regarding the need for care and research on ME/CFS. It is called for “to establish immediate public relations campaigns, care structures, including professional participation opportunities, research networks and systematic medical continuing education and training opportunities.”

As a result, the Bundestag Budget Committee has decided to release 5 million euros for research into treatment options for ME/CFS and long Covid. This is intended to establish a National Clinical Study Group (NKSG) to conduct research on the two diseases across Germany.

Those affected are certainly watching the latest developments eagerly. Funding research projects and further studies on ME/CFS and post-Covid syndrome could provide new insights in the near future. In addition, doctors are increasingly aware of the formerly rather unknown disease ME/CFS. This suggests that a diagnosis can be made more quickly in the future and that earlier treatment will be possible.

Follow-up studies of the previous SARS pandemic 2002/2003 showed that 27.1% of 233 surviving patients suffered from ME/CFS retrospectively. Since the SARS virus also belongs to the coronavirus family, findings from the SARS pandemic could also be of interest to those affected by long-COVID.

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