The chronic exhaustion symptom “fatigue” not only severely limits the quality of life of cancer patients. Fatigue also frequently occurs as a consequence of surviving a Covid 19 infection. Through studies in two research projects funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg, researchers from several scientific institutions in Baden-Württemberg aim to gain new insights into Long Covid and its core symptom Fatigue, in order to identify new targets for the therapy of Long Covid and the associated Fatigue through a better understanding of the disease.
For those affected, the CIMH has already established a post-Covid consultation hour in 2021. In addition to detailed advice on therapy options and offers of help, there is also the possibility of participating in studies on post-covid syndrome.
Identifying diagnostic and therapeutic approaches
The collaborative project “Multimodal Characterization of Liquor-Specific Signatures in Long-Covid” is one of a total of twelve nationally funded projects for research into long-covid and will run for a period of two years. “Fatigue and exhaustion reduce the resilience as well as the quality of life of many Long Covid patients. In order to be able to help those affected as quickly as possible, the underlying mechanisms of this fatigue syndrome must be researched. The new collaborative project has the potential to identify diagnostic as well as therapeutic approaches – and ultimately to help fatigue sufferers back into life,” says Petra Olschowski, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science.
New biomarkers and targets for detection
Fatigue refers to a permanent, chronic state of exhaustion as a result of a disease, which occurs independently of physical or mental stress and can hardly be alleviated by rest or sleep. Fatigue is primarily associated with cancer, but comparable symptoms also occur in other diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s or rheumatism – and in Long Covid. Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) should also be mentioned in this context.
In the cooperation project, the Neurological Clinics of the University Medical Center Mannheim (Prof. Dr. Lucas Schirmer) and the University Hospital Ulm (Prof. Dr. Hayrettin Tumani) as well as the Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim (Dr. Claudia Schilling) are contributing their respective expertise to better understand the mechanisms underlying fatigue in Long-Covid and to identify novel biomarkers and targets for the detection and treatment of fatigue syndrome associated with Covid-19.
Neuropsychiatric complaints in long-covid
The CIMH is participating in another special state grant project to study long-covid. Entitled “Establishment of objective diagnostic markers and in vivo neurobiochemical correlates for Long-Covid with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NP-Long-Covid)”, the CIMH (Prof. Dr. Gabriele Ende and Dr. Claudia Schilling), in collaboration with Heidelberg University Hospital (Prof. Dr. Daniela Roesch Ely and Prof. Dr. Brigitte Wildemann), aims to investigate disease mechanisms of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Long-Covid. The two-year research project is intended to contribute to a better understanding of the disease and thus to better therapies in the future. The researchers assume that an inflammatory reaction of the brain tissue and a disturbance of the neuronal energy metabolism could play a role in the disease. Therefore, the CIMH research group is studying the brain metabolism of patients with Long Covid and a control group of fully recovered patients. A special form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), MR spectroscopic imaging, is used at the CIMH for this purpose.
In the investigations of the Heidelberg research team, the focus is primarily on inflammatory blood and brain changes. Patients who show neuropsychiatric symptoms such as memory and attention disorders after a Covid 19 infection will also be systematically examined for objectifiable cognitive and affective impairments.
Both projects are funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg.
Post-Covid Outpatient Clinic
Affected persons from Mannheim and the Rhine-Neckar region can call the Post-Covid Outpatient Clinic of the CIMH at 0621 1703-2850. The Post-Covid Outpatient Clinic is located in K 3, 21 in Mannheim. The CIMH offers a detailed clinical examination, which, depending on the complaints, is supplemented by a detailed neuropsychological diagnosis of any cognitive complaints, a sleep diagnosis and a blood analysis. In addition to detailed advice on therapy options and offers of help, there is also the possibility of participating in studies on post-Covid syndrome.