Shortness of breath. Brain fog. Difficulty remembering. Chest pain. Palpitations. Significant increases in/new diagnoses of anxiety. Distressing inability to taste or smell. Tinnitus. Persistent headaches. Persistent cough. Acid reflux. Neuropathy. Fatigue – man, the fatigue.
The list of symptoms goes on. And on. And on. Like the frustrations of the millions who are left dealing with this illness and are gaslit by doctors who don’t understand the disease or fail to acknowledge its existence.
Over 200 symptoms have been linked long COVID, known in the medical literature as post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).
Having consulted on or treated more than 1200 “long haulers” as these patients are known, I have learned so much about this disease by doing the one thing all doctors should be adept at – listening to patients.
The stories are truly heartbreaking.
Many of these patients are cops, firefighters, nurses, physician assistants, lawyers, many other prior full-time employees, parents, and spouses who generally had a mild case of COVID, but then developed a myriad of symptoms that has left them a shell of their former selves.
Why is Bream Medical different?
Bream Medical was started out of concern for patients who were not getting proper care by the corporate healthcare systems that stymied early outpatient treatment options for patients. I was frustrated and concerned by the corporate healthcare system response to go home, rest, and come back when you turn blue. I lost people I cared dearly about – who I think could have been saved had they had access to early, outpatient treatment protocols (note – I’m not talking about remdesivir).
I decided to take matters into my own hands and cared for about 1300 acute COVID patients on my own telemedicine medicine service that I launched via Facebook. This was predominantly during the delta era of COVID. The results? A few hospitalizations. Patients who were well-taken care of and happy to get treatments that weren’t offered in hospitals or by corporate medical practices.
ZERO deaths. The expected number of deaths would have been 44 based on a case fatality ratio of 3.4% for delta wave COVID.
And I certainly wasn’t treating a bunch of healthy 20-year-olds to pad the stats either.
All of this to say, corporate healthcare is seemingly just as lost on long COVID as they were on acute COVID. And, again, Bream Medical stands ready to fill the gap.
Why Bream Medical for long COVID
Much is not known about long COVID. However, a few themes seem to be emerging in the literature and are consistent:
- Long COVID seems to be due to vascular inflammation
- Viral persistence has been shown and likely plays a significant role
- Micro-clotting likely contributes
- Elevated levels of certain cytokines/chemokines are consistently found
- Routine laboratory testing in doctor’s offices is not likely to be of any benefit other than ruling out other disease processes
Thankfully, I was able to network with (and joined) another group of physicians were also concerned with the well-being of acute and long COVID patients. While most practices have dealt temporally with a few long COVID patients, I have now consulted on or treated more than 1,200 long COVID patients, have co-authored two peer-reviewed papers, and have spent hundreds of hours reading the latest studies and literature.
In short, few practices are as adept at treating acute or long COVID as Bream Medical.
With an incidence of up to 30% of all COVID patients, chances are you know someone who is affected with long COVID symptoms. At Bream Medical, we can give them something that they probably have not had in quite some time – hope at getting back to normal life – which is truly all these patients want.
If you or someone you know is afflicted with long COVID in North Carolina, our office would love the provide the chance of getting your life back from long COVID. Give us a call today!
– John Bream, MD – Founder, Bream Medical
Bream Medical is an all-inclusive, non-corporate practice that provides urgent care, primary care, and direct primary care services in Salisbury, Stokesdale, and Edenton, NC, and provides telemedicine consultation anywhere in North Carolina. We provide excellent healthcare by prioritizing patients care – not profits. To learn more about Bream Medical, visit https://breammedical.com or call 704.216.1263.