It is now common knowledge that Covid-19, at least for many people, can still cause moderate to severe symptoms even after you are over the main symptoms and test negative for the SARS-CoV2 virus.
These symptoms can persist for months or even years, and some people seem unable ever to become 100% clear of these symptoms, which are typically referred to as "Long Covid."
Previously I have written about how melatonin can be useful for some of these post covid symptoms here so I won't discuss that now or count it as part of this group, but I will add that melatonin has anticoagulation effects in the blood :
https://www.earthclinic.com/melatonin-protocol-for-coronavirus.html
Now that more research into long covid is starting to be done, we have a greater understanding of what is going on in this post-disease process and consequently an increased understanding of what supplements are more likely to be beneficial to try and counter these symptoms.
A lot of what is driving long covid is oxidative stress and inflammation which antioxidants are very useful to try and counter the increased oxidative stress, inflammation, and the symptoms related to elevated oxidative stress levels and inflammation.
This newer article (April 2022) details how Oxidative Stress and Hyper-Inflammation are major driving forces in long covid :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9100929/
Here is a relevant quote from the review:
' Oxidative stress is a pivotal point in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and presumably also in Long-COVID. Inflammation and oxidative stress are mutually reinforcing each other, thus contributing to the systemic hyper-inflammatory state and coagulopathy which are cardinal pathological mechanisms of severe stages. COVID-19 patients, like other critically ill patients e.g. with pneumonia, very often show severe deficiency of the antioxidant vitamin C. '
Along that line of thinking, Alpha lipoic Acid (ALA) + CoQ10 should serve well to lower oxidative stress overall in the body and the mitochondria in particular, which will go a long way in improving cell function. Melatonin is a highly potent antioxidant and radical scavenge as well as a potent anti inflammatory as outlined in the very first link.
The following new study (August 2022) gives pertinent information on why the combination of ALA and CoQ10 are likely to be useful against post Covid-19 symptoms :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9395797/
Here is an important quote :
' A FSS complete response was reached in 62 (53.5%) patients in treatment group and in two (3.5%) patients in control group. A reduction in FSS core < 20% from baseline at T1 (non-response) was observed in 11 patients in the treatment group (9.5%) and in 15 patients in the control group (25.9%) (p < 0.0001). To date, this is the first study that tests the efficacy of coenzyme Q10 and alpha lipoic acid in chronic Covid syndrome. Primary and secondary outcomes were met. '
Those are good positive results in a moderate sized study group and clearly show the efficacy of the combination of ALA + CoQ10 in trying to deal with long covid. It is already established that ALA is useful for peripheral neuropathy or the pins and needles feeling in the hands and feet so I won't go into that aspect here, but those can be post covid symptoms and ALA would show its relevance there also. It is worth mentioning that the Ubiquinol form of CoQ10 is likely to be a better choice because of its superior bioavailability in adults.
In this new study (September 2022) they showed the combination of Vitamin C and L-Arginine to improve long covid symptoms via their Lincoln Survey :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9295384/
Here is a relevant quote from their review :
' This survey is the first to show the beneficial effects of the combination of l-Arginine and Vitamin C in Long-COVID. Our investigation was based on a robust rationale, i.e. targeting endothelial dysfunction in Long-COVID. Indeed, endothelial cell infection with consecutive inflammatory cell recruitment and endothelial dysfunction could explain the impaired microcirculation observed across vascular beds in COVID-19, triggering vasoconstriction, ischemia, and a pro-coagulant state [92], [93], [94], [95]. Consistent with our view, several investigators had proposed that endotheliitis could be a critical mechanism underlying systemic impaired microcirculatory function observed in different vascular beds in patients experiencing Long-COVID symptoms [92], [96]. '
It is worth noting that melatonin also helps repair the endothelium through its anti-inflammatory and potent antioxidant effects.
So here we have four supplements, well 5 if you add melatonin in, that have shown benefit against many of the symptoms of long covid in these brand new studies. These are common and readily available with good safety profiles and are likely to help alleviate the symptoms of long covid and as a side benefit are likely to offer other health benefits rather than negative side effects often seen with prescription medications.
1. Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)
2. Co~Q10 as Ubiquinol
3. Vitamin C
4. L-Arginine
5. Melatonin : https://www.earthclinic.com/melatonin-protocol-for-coronavirus.html
As far as dosing, it seems prudent to start with label recommendations and work upward if needed.
Many supplements are starting to show some benefit against long covid, but testing is in the very early stages as of now, but as those studies become available, I will add them. Some interesting areas of research are amino acids and synbiotic combinations.
Art
