The trial’s hypothesis is based on recent studies revealing that long COVID-19 may be caused by a hyper-inflammatory response that activates during COVID-19 as the body fights off the virus but does not resolve in some people even after the infection has passed. High levels of inflammation in the body can cause organ damage and other health issues.
“We are examining if food choice can quiet the body’s inflammatory response and in doing so, effectively minimize or curtail long COVID-19 symptoms,” said Adupa Rao, M.D., an investigator of the clinical trial and medical director of the Keck Medicine Covid Recovery Clinic.
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The trial will look at the anti-inflammatory effects of a low-carbohydrate diet in combination with a medicinal meal that elevates blood ketone levels. Ketones, including beta-hydroxybutyrate, the main ketone in this diet, are molecules produced by the body to give energy when carbs and sugars are low. Both a low-carb diet and ketones have been linked to decreased inflammation in the body.
Assessing Dietary Interventions for Long COVID-19
The researchers intend to enroll 50 long-term COVID-19 patients from Keck Medicine’s Covid Recovery Clinic. Half of the people will receive a 30-day dietary intervention, while the other half will not. Researchers will evaluate inflammatory indicators and long COVID-19 symptoms between the two groups of patients at the end of the month to see how patients handled the regimen.
Researchers intend to expand the clinical trial to a bigger population if the nutritional intervention is well tolerated by patients and improves their health conditions.
“Research like ours is vital to expand our understanding of long COVID-19 and ultimately help identify effective treatments to improve patient’s quality of life,” said the principal investigator of the clinical trial, Nuria Pastor-Soler, M.D., Ph.D., who is also an associate professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “The results of this trial will hopefully move us closer to potential solutions.”
References:
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html
- https://hscnews.usc.edu/diet-recommended-for-inflammatory-conditions-may-also-mitigate-long-covid#:~:text=Photo%2FAdobe%20Stock)-,Diet%20recommended%20for%20inflammatory%20conditions%20may%20also%20mitigate%20long%20COVID,the%20effects%20of%20long%20COVID.
Source: Medindia
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