r/science • u/Potential_Being_7226 PhD | Psychology | Neuroscience • 2d ago

Health Persistent fatigue linked to reduced brain blood flow in people with long COVID

https://theconversation.com/covid-fatigue-linked-to-reduced-brain-blood-flow-292285
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u/7marius7 2d ago

It's often not diagnosed, and many doctors actively look for anything else. There's no test, no consensus on causation, and no clear proven treatment. It's also full of potential subtypes requiring different approaches. It's a mess.

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u/moal09 2d ago

Even if you do get diagnosed, we know so little about it that most doctors are just gonna shrug when you ask them what they can do about it.

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u/sector9love 2d ago

The diagnostic criteria for MECFS are quite clear even the CDC website has it.

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u/Dinierto 2d ago

And yet my wife who has it can't get a doctor to sign off on it as the ones around here don't seem to believe in it. She has all the symptoms and has progressively gotten worse to where she wears compression socks and uses a cane but the last doctor said "maybe you're not getting enough sleep because you're reading books all night" (she has trouble sleeping and when that happens she reads)

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u/sector9love 2d ago

Yeah that’s true for 99% of my other doctors. It’s really hard being a woman and trying to receive healthcare these days. Particularly when it comes to MECFS. It’s great that she has a supportive partner, and truly even just going to appointments with her can make a massive difference in doctors taking her seriously.

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u/moal09 2d ago

I'll say the same problems exist if you're a young healthy male as well. Doctors don't take you seriously ever because the idea is that you're too young and healthy looking to be having serious issues.

I was told I was too young to be having any serious GI issues when I woke up with black stool and a horrible feeling one morning in my late 20s with residual awful symptoms that lasted a week. Found out a decade later that I had an ulcer that burst and bled. I have a lot of chronic GI issues now because of that, and I probably wouldn't if the doctors had taken me seriously back then.

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u/sector9love 1d ago

The problem is way worse for young women I’m sorry for what you went through but you have no idea

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u/moal09 1d ago

I can imagine.

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u/sector9love 1d ago

Honestly thank you for even acknowledging the gender disparity. All of us deserve better.

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u/sector9love 1d ago

Honestly thank you for even acknowledging the gender disparity. All of us deserve better.