🔥 What if Long COVID isn't an entirely new condition, but another chapter in a much older story of infections triggering chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction, and symptoms that refuse to go away? Read UnCurable (https://uncurablebook.com/) to explore a deeper perspective on complex chronic illness, root-cause medicine, and why understanding what keeps the body stuck may be the key to moving healing forward.
What if Long COVID is still affecting millions of people while the resources created to study it are disappearing?
In this episode of Made for Health, Dr. Aaron Hartman and Dr. Christian Jenski begin a new series on Long COVID and the larger world of post-infectious chronic illness. They discuss why people continue to experience persistent symptoms years after infection, even as federally funded Long COVID programs and research initiatives wind down without establishing a single standardized approach to diagnosis or treatment.
Dr. Hartman and Dr. Jenski explore why Long COVID may not be an entirely new phenomenon, but part of a broader pattern of post-infectious illness seen throughout medical history. They discuss its overlap with chronic fatigue, POTS, dysautonomia, mast cell activation, mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic inflammatory response, and other complex conditions. They also explain why functional medicine approaches these patients through a systems-based lens, looking at inflammation, immune regulation, metabolic health, nutrition, gut health, environmental exposures, and other potential contributors rather than treating each symptom in isolation.
Key Topics Covered
- Why Long COVID remains a major health challenge years after the pandemic
- The winding down of federally funded Long COVID clinics and research programs
- Why standardized diagnostic and treatment pathways remain limited
- The history of post-viral and post-infectious syndromes
- Why Long COVID may share patterns with other complex chronic illnesses
- The overlap between Long COVID, chronic fatigue, POTS, and dysautonomia
- Mast cell activation and chronic inflammatory response
- Mitochondrial dysfunction and persistent post-viral symptoms
- Why multisystem illness can be difficult to address through separate medical specialties
- How functional medicine uses a systems-based approach to complex illness
- The role of metabolic health and underlying inflammation
- Nutrition, nutrient optimization, and the gut-brain axis
- Why treatment needs may change from acute infection to chronic illness
- How infections may trigger or uncover previously hidden health vulnerabilities
- Why individualized care matters when treating complex chronic conditions
Follow Dr. Aaron Hartman and Richmond Integrative & Functional Medicine
🌐 Website: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/
📺 YouTube: @AaronHartmanMD
