Apr 20, 2022 - COVID

Vanderbilt to study long COVID

Illustration of a child looking at a giant covid virus casting a long shadow

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Vanderbilt University Medical Center received a $1 million grant to study COVID-19's long-term effect on the heart and cardiovascular system.

  • It was one of 11 pandemic-related grants announced last week by the American Heart Association.

Why it matters: About one in 10 people who recover from COVID develops chronic symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain and an abnormally high heart rate, per VUMC.

  • Some long COVID patients develop symptoms reminiscent of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which include lightheadedness, intense fatigue and high heart rate upon standing.
  • The VUMC team will test ways to reduce pro-inflammatory proteins that have been discovered in blood samples from those patients.

What they're saying: "Our goal is to discover new treatment pathways for this disabling disease," VUMC professor Cyndya Shibao said in a statement.

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