Thousands of people with long Covids are travelling abroad to spend huge sums of money on treatments that are not proven to work.
According to an investigation by the British Medical Journal and ITV News, patients are going to private clinics in Cyprus, Germany and Switzerland for certain procedures.
Invasive and expensive therapies should not be offered without adequate evidence, according to experts.
"I am worried these patients have been offered therapies which have not been assessed by modern scientific methods." It's worrying that the treatment has the risk of harm in this situation.
Between 10% and 20% of people experience symptoms for at least two months after an acute Covid infection, according to the WHO.
Long Covid is defined byNice as having new or ongoing symptoms four weeks or more after the start of the disease.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people with long Covid increased from January to May.
Loss of concentration and joint pain are some of the symptoms. The condition can affect day-to- day activities for some people.
There is no internationally agreed treatment pathway for long Covid because the condition is still novel.
Apheresis is a treatment that separates red blood cells from the rest of the body's blood. The red blood cells are reintroduced into the body through a different vein.
After developing long Covid symptoms, Gitte Boumeester tried it as anywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanydaynywayanyday
She returned home with no improvement to her symptoms after she was treated at The Long Covid Center in Cyprus. She got six rounds of apheresis and nine rounds of hyperbaric oxygen therapy at the Poseidonia clinic.
The drug hydroxychloroquine is unlikely to have any benefit in the prevention of the disease according to a review.
Dr Beate Jaeger, an internal medicine doctor, began treating long Covid patients with apheresis in February last year at her clinic in Mlheim, Germany. She said she has treated thousands in her clinic after patients shared their stories on social media.
The treatment for Covid is experimental and taking too long when millions of patients have been affected by the Pandemic.
Chris Witham, a long-time Covid patient from Bournemouth, England, spent over $6,000 on apheresis in Kempten, Germany, last year. He said he would have sold his house and given it to another person. The treatment did not help his symptoms.
Some doctors and researchers think apheresis and anticoagulation drugs may be promising treatments for long Covid, but others worry that patients are spending life-changing sums on unnecessary treatments.
A researcher on the Therapies for Long Covid in non-hospitalised patients trial believes that experimental treatment should only be done in a clinical trial.
He said that it was unsurprising that people who were previously highly functioning would seek treatment elsewhere.
There is a completely rational response to this situation. There is limited to no evidence that these treatments work.
The Long Covid Center doesn't promote or advertise, according to co- founder Marcus Klotz. If a patient needs a prescription, it is assessed by our doctor or the patient is referred to other specialized doctors where necessary.
The treatments offered at the Poseidonia clinic are always based on medical and clinical evaluation by our doctors and clinical nutritionist, as per good medical practice.
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