Vanderbilt to study long COVID

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.