Patient H.I.
Condition Treated: Long-Covid Symptoms: severe cardiac arrhythmia/Long QT Interval, fatigue, muscle weakness, bone pain, low testosterone levels, shortness of breath and chronic cough.
The patient is an 18-year-old male who reported having had Covid-19 three separate times. He stated the first time he had Covid was in February-March of 2020 before anyone knew what it really was and that this bought affected vascularization in his legs and left him with some fatigue. In January of 2022 he contracted Covid again and experienced more fatigue and what he described as “weakness.” At the end of March of 2022 he contracted Covid a third time and this time experienced fatigue and weakness that he didn’t recover from. He stated that he also developed a Covid-induced pneumonia 10 days after contracting Covid the last time, exacerbating the muscle weakness and that his “bones started hurting.” He also developed a bad cough that still persisted (patient was observed coughing 2-3 times every 60 seconds during the initial interview).
He reported chest pains twice since the 3rd round of Covid and that he has had two abnormal EKG readings, one just the week prior to the initial interview with him that showed an abnormal QT interval: a “Long QT Interval” that he was told could result in “sudden death” in young athletes below the age of 30. He was instructed to keep his pulse below 120 bpm. This patient is a long-distance runner and had a college scholarship in the coming fall for cross country and track and field.
The patient also reported that his testosterone levels are only 140 (should be closer to 1,000 at his age per his primary care provider). He also reported sleep disturbances since contracting Covid-19 as well as increased anxiety.
Treatment: This patient underwent 7 weeks of LILT utilizing the Bioflex Low Intensity Light/Laser Therapy System. Treatment was applied to his cervical spine for 32 minutes of total treatment time, focusing on the cervical vagus nerve branches, the internal carotid arteries as well as the facets, which included treating the vertebral arteries and CSF. Treatment was also performed transcranially using the Class 3b infrared laser probe at 180 mW, starting at 21% power and for 5 seconds per point for 8 minutes total transcranial treatment time and gradually increasing to 100% power at 5 seconds per point.
Outcomes: After 3 weeks of treatment, patient was reporting that it was easier to breathe and that he was able to run 13 miles and it “felt pretty good.” His cough was completely resolved. He was also reporting better sleep at this point. He reported feeling about 50-60% better overall since starting the LILT treatments.
At the conclusion of 7 weeks, the patient reported “feeling back to normal” with his energy levels as well as with sleep and that his anxiety was greatly reduced. His bone pain was also resolved. His testosterone levels were improving (and had normalized by 3 months after the cessation of treatment per his primary care provider). And the EKG he had performed before leaving for college was completely normal. The Long-QT Interval had resolved.
Conclusion: Low Intensity Light/Laser Therapy can be a good and safe course of treatment to help resolve many Long-Covid symptoms. Research is showing that Long-Covid may be a result of damage to the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) as well as to the endocrine system caused by the Covid-19 virus. By treating the ANS and the endocrine system with LILT, we are helping restore homeostasis to both systems and therefore reduce or eliminating the many symptoms that people experience with ANS dysfunction.
LILT helps improve mitochondrial health and function and increases DNA protein synthesis, allowing the body to create new healthy cells and increases the formation of new neural networks or neurogenesis. It also boosts the microglial cells in the brain and the macrophages of the white blood cells to enable increased removal of waste products and debris or scar tissue. It helps improve overall cellular health and functioning and reduces inflammation.