Long COVID could teach us about other diseases

One of the hallmarks of the disorder that's become known as long COVID — an infection that ultimately "broke" the immune system — could help spur new solutions to old diseases.

Driving the news: Next month, Georgetown University is convening researchers from different disciplines studying autoimmune disorders — including fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, neuropsychiatric disorders and long haul COVID — to "compare notes."

What they're saying: "The medical profession was dismissive of a lot of these conditions," said Gary Kaplan, a clinical associate professor at Georgetown University and founder of the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine.

• The rapid expansion of patients with long COVID symptoms "woke up the medical profession and it said: 'Oh, wait a minute, these things are real and these things look exactly like this. Maybe we need to think about this differently,'" Kaplan said.