Sarcoidosis Awareness: Get Healthy Stay Healthy · Bernie Mac Foundation · StopSarcoidosis.org · New Jersey Sarcoidosis Specialists
Source: Athena Merritt, Sarcoidosis News
Since the novel coronavirus emerged, what’s increasingly struck me are the eerie similarities between COVID-19 and sarcoidosis. The deeper we’ve gotten into this pandemic, the more I wonder if it might provide new clues for treating the sarcoidosis population.
COVID-19 caught my attention even before it hit U.S. shores, because it initially attacks the lungs. That’s exactly where sarcoidosis chooses to set up shop in about 90% of us, including myself. Shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, brain fog, and joint and muscle pain are all common complaints of COVID-19 long haulers. Some of them, like many of us, also now battle small fiber neuropathy, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
As many as 8.4 million of the more than 28 million Americans diagnosed with COVID-19 are long-haulers, according to a report by NBC News. The article states that than 80 “post-COVID” clinics across the country are actively trying to help patients. Much like our own lingering sarcoidosis symptoms, the article reported that no “magic medication” has emerged to cure the ailments. But I believe there is now more promise of finding answers.
Just consider that fewer than 200,000 Americans have sarcoidosis — that makes it a rare disease by U.S. standards. Now a slew of symptoms that many of us struggle with are being brought before doctors by several million people. And the National Institutes of Health has undertaken a four-year, billion-dollar effort to find out why the symptoms are sticking around.
I hope that brings additional insight and potential treatments for our community. But even if it doesn’t, at least more doctors are listening and trying to find solutions to problems that we have been voicing for so many years.