Health

Paxlovid Improved Long Covid Symptoms in Some Patients, Researchers Report

Published

1 year ago

January 6, 2025

Paxlovid Improved Long Covid Symptoms in Some Patients, Researchers Report

Can Paxlovid treat long Covid? A new report suggests it might help some patients, but which patients might benefit remains unclear.

The report, published Monday in the journal Communications Medicine, describes the cases of 13 long Covid patients who took extended courses of the antiviral drug. Results were decidedly mixed: Nine patients reported some improvement, but only five said it lasted. Four reported no improvement at all.

Perhaps more than anything, the report underscores that nearly five years after the pandemic began, there is still little known about what can help the millions of people with long Covid. While some people improve on their own or with various therapies and medications, no treatment has yet been shown to be widely successful.

“People with long Covid are eager for treatments that can help,” said Alison Cohen, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who is an author of the new report and has long Covid herself. “There’s been a lot of research, but it continues to be slow going.”

Paxlovid, made by Pfizer, is considered a tantalizing prospect because it can prevent severe illness during active Covid infections and because patients who take the five-day course during the infection have been less likely to develop long Covid later.

In addition, a theory that some long Covid cases may be caused by remnants of virus in the body suggests that an antiviral like Paxlovid might vanquish those symptoms by extinguishing lingering virus.

Last year, the first randomized trial of Paxlovid for long Covid showed no benefit. Conducted at Stanford, it involved 155 patients who took the drug or a placebo for 15 days. While taking Paxlovid for that long was found to be safe, it didn’t help patients much: Ten weeks later, the placebo and Paxlovid groups showed no significant difference in severity of long Covid symptoms.

Dr. Upinder Singh, an infectious disease specialist and a leader of that trial, said its results and the new report primarily generated “more questions to answer”: Could Paxlovid help if taken for longer than 15 days or paired with other medications? Does its effect vary by types of symptoms or by when symptoms started?

“It’s very possible that within long Covid, there’s different disease types,” said Dr. Singh, now head of internal medicine at the University of Iowa. Maybe Paxlovid or other antivirals would help patients who could be clearly determined to have lingering virus in their bodies, she said.

Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University, said scientists shouldn’t “throw in the towel” on the possibility of antivirals for long Covid.

“If you look in the aggregate, you don’t see a difference between the placebo group, but these case reports demonstrate there are people who truly benefit, so we need to home in on those people,” said Dr. Iwasaki, who is leading another randomized trial of Paxlovid, the results of which have yet to be published.

She said important next steps would be identifying biological markers in people whose long Covid symptoms improved with Paxlovid and seeing whether other antivirals help different patients.

The new report was not a clinical trial, but a collection of self-reports from 13 long Covid patients around the country who had tried extended courses of Paxlovid. It is the first published case series of such patients, according to the authors, who include Dr. Michael Peluso, an infectious disease physician at U.C.S.F., and members of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, a group of researchers who also have long Covid.

The experiences of the patients were too varied to yield a consistent trajectory, but the variety may provide clues for larger studies, the authors said.

The patients, ranging in age from 25 to 55, were infected between March 2020 and December 2022. They experienced one or more of a range of symptoms, including fatigue; gastrointestinal problems; cognitive problems like brain fog; muscle pain; irregular heart rate; and a condition called post-exertional malaise, in which physical or mental exertion causes setbacks.

As with the Stanford trial, most patients in the new report had been vaccinated by the time they took Paxlovid. Their Paxlovid courses ranged from 7.5 days to 30 days. Most tried it to find relief from their persistent long-Covid symptoms; two patients with long Covid received extended courses of Paxlovid when they were reinfected with the virus.

Most patients were also taking other medications or supplements, making it difficult to determine the drug’s specific effect, Dr. Cohen said. Still, some said Paxlovid helped them significantly.

Kate Leslie, 46, a social worker in Boulder, Colo., said she was healthy and athletic before her coronavirus infection in March 2022. Six weeks later, she said, she felt as if she’d had a concussion, struggling to think clearly and find words.

She developed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, with symptoms including erratic heart rate and blood pressure and occasional fainting. A longtime Ultimate Frisbee player and coach, she began experiencing profound fatigue and could barely lift her arms.

“It was like concrete blocks are on your body,” she said. “I couldn’t get out of bed. My husband had to wash my hair and dry it and dress me.”

After an antiviral she was prescribed for a flu infection, Tamiflu, ended up easing some of her long Covid symptoms, Ms. Leslie wondered whether Covid-related antivirals might help even more, she said. In February 2023, she found a doctor to prescribe a 15-day course of Paxlovid.

Afterward, “I could feel my body getting restabilized,” she said, adding, “I started to get my energy back.”

About six months later, she obtained another 15-day course, which helped again, she said. She estimates she can now function at about 85 percent of her pre-Covid level.

Ms. Leslie said, however, that a couple of her medical issues worsened after Paxlovid, including an immune system condition that has caused allergies. Three other patients also reported bothersome issues after taking Paxlovid, including tingling and gastrointestinal discomfort.

Among those who didn’t perceive any benefit from the drug was Julia Moore Vogel. Dr. Vogel, 39, a senior program director at Scripps Research, was a long-distance runner before being infected with the coronavirus in July 2020. Now she uses a wheelchair and is largely housebound, she said.

She and her daughter recently moved across the country, from California, to live with her parents in Schaghticoke, N.Y. “I got to the point where we were like, I either need to stop working or we need more help at home,” she said.

Dr. Vogel, whose symptoms include fatigue, post-exertional malaise and migraines, took a 10-day course of Paxlovid in April 2023. “It just had no impact for me at all,” she said.

These days, she manages by carefully budgeting her energy, trying to leave the house no more than once a week. Migraine medications provided some relief, she said, but other than that, “I’ve tried many things, and basically nothing has really helped me improve.”

Dr. Cohen said the report strengthens the theory that long Covid has many different causes and treatments.

“A really important question is who may benefit from taking an extended course of Paxlovid and why,” she said, “and if it benefits some symptoms, which symptoms does it benefit?”

Click to comment

Health

GLP-1 Drugs Linked to Osteoporosis and Gout: Here’s How To Stay Safe

Published

1 hour ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

GLP-1 Drugs Linked to Osteoporosis and Gout: Here’s How To Stay Safe

GLP-1 Drugs Linked To Increased Risk of Osteoporosis and Gout | Woman’s World

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.

Use escape to exit the menu.

Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login

Health

Ozempic-style drugs could slash complication risks after heart attacks, research suggests

Published

2 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Ozempic-style drugs could slash complication risks after heart attacks, research suggests

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A popular class of weight-loss drugs may prevent life-threatening cardiac complications by opening microscopic blood vessels that often remain blocked after a heart attack, according to a study published this week in Nature Communications.

The research, led by the University of Bristol and University College London, identified a biological brain-gut-heart signaling pathway.

This discovery appears to explain how GLP-1 drugs — which mimic glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar and appetite — protect heart tissue from a condition known as “no-reflow.”

“In nearly half of all heart attack patients, tiny blood vessels within the heart muscle remain narrowed, even after the main artery is cleared during emergency medical treatment,” Dr. Svetlana Mastitskaya, the study’s lead author and a senior lecturer at Bristol Medical School, said in a press release.

“This results in a complication known as ‘no-reflow,’ where blood is unable to reach certain parts of the heart tissue.”

In nearly half of all heart attack patients, tiny capillaries (blood vessels) remain narrowed even after the main blocked artery is cleared. (iStock)

This lack of blood flow increases the risk of heart failure and death within a year. GLP-1 medications could prevent this, according to the researchers.

How it works

When the GLP-1 hormone is released in the gut or administered as a drug, it sends a signal to the brain, which then sends a signal to the heart that switches on special potassium channels in tiny cells called pericytes.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

When these channels open, the pericytes relax, which allows the small blood vessels (capillaries) to widen and improve blood flow to the heart muscle, the researchers noted.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

The new study used animal models and cellular imaging to track how GLP-1 interacts with heart tissue. When the researchers removed the potassium channels, the drugs no longer protected the heart — confirming they play a key role.

The findings suggest that existing GLP-1 medications, already used for type 2 diabetes and obesity, could be repurposed as emergency treatments. (iStock)

The findings suggest that existing GLP-1 medications, already used for type 2 diabetes and obesity, could be repurposed as emergency treatments during or immediately after a heart attack to reduce tissue damage.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

The researchers noted several limitations, including that the study relied on animal models.

Clinical trials are necessary to determine whether the brain-gut-heart pathway operates with the same timing and efficacy in humans.

While the study highlights the drug’s immediate benefits during a heart attack, it des not establish whether long-term use of these drugs provides a pre-existing level of protection. (iStock)

Additionally, while the study highlights the drug’s immediate benefits during a heart attack, it does not establish whether long-term use of the medication provides a pre-existing level of protection.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

The research was primarily funded by the British Heart Foundation.

Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of story topics including food and drink, travel, and health.

Health

Do collagen supplements really improve skin? Major review reveals the truth

Published

14 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Do collagen supplements really improve skin? Major review reveals the truth

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Collagen supplements have exploded in popularity, touted as everything from an anti-aging miracle to a muscle recovery booster.

But a sweeping new review conducted by U.K. researchers suggests that while collagen may help improve skin elasticity and ease arthritis pain, it does little for athletic performance or wrinkle reduction.

Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University analyzed 16 systematic reviews and 113 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 8,000 participants worldwide, which they say is the most extensive evaluation of collagen’s health effects to date.

The review found consistent evidence that collagen supplementation improves skin elasticity and hydration over time and provides significant relief from osteoarthritis-related joint pain and stiffness, according to findings published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal Open Forum.

A large U.K. review found that collagen supplements may improve skin elasticity and hydration over time. (iStock)

The researchers, however, did not find meaningful improvements in post-exercise muscle recovery, soreness or tendon mechanical properties (strength, springiness and stretch resistance).

“Collagen is not a cure-all, but it does have credible benefits when used consistently over time, particularly for skin and osteoarthritis,” co-author Lee Smith, professor of public health at Anglia Ruskin University, said in a statement.

EXPERIMENTAL SERUM SHOWS PROMISE IN REVERSING BALDNESS WITHIN 20 DAYS

“Our findings show clear benefits in key areas of healthy aging, while also dispelling some of the myths surrounding its use,” Smith added.

Collagen, the most abundant protein in the body, supports skin, bones, tendons, cartilage and connective tissue, according to experts. Natural collagen production begins to drop in early adulthood and declines more sharply with age.

The study found that collagen supplements may help reduce joint pain and stiffness in people with osteoarthritis. (iStock)

The review found that long-term collagen supplementation was linked to improved skin firmness and hydration, but did not help skin roughness — a proxy for visible wrinkles.

Benefits appear to accumulate gradually, suggesting that collagen should not be viewed as an “anti-wrinkle ‘quick fix,’ but as a foundational dermal support for individuals seeking holistic skin maintenance,” the researchers said.

“If we define anti-aging as a product or technique designed to prevent the appearance of getting older, then I believe our findings do support this claim for some parameters,” Smith told the BBC. “For example, an improvement in skin tone and moisture is associated with a more youthful-looking appearance.”

Collagen supplementation was linked to reduced pain and stiffness in people with osteoarthritis, with stronger benefits seen over longer periods of use, and showed modest improvements in muscle mass and tendon structure that may support healthy aging.

Collagen did not significantly improve skin roughness, a marker of visible wrinkles. (iStock)

However, it did not show meaningful results when used as a fast-acting sports performance supplement, and evidence for benefits related to cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and oral health was mixed or inconclusive.

Dr. Daniel Ghiyam, a California-based physician and longevity specialist, said the findings align with what he sees in clinical practice.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES

“Collagen is a targeted support tool, not a foundation of health or performance,” Ghiyam, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. “When marketed that way, it makes sense. When marketed as a cure-all, it doesn’t hold up to the data.”

The authors noted that while many previous collagen studies have received financial support from the supplement industry, the current review did not receive industry funding.

Experts say collagen supplements may offer modest benefits for skin hydration and joint comfort, but they are not a cure-all. (iStock)

The team called for more high-quality clinical trials examining long-term outcomes, optimal dosages and differences between collagen sources, such as marine, bovine and plant-based alternatives.

Among its limitations, the review could not determine whether certain forms of collagen work better than others or what the optimal regimen should be.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

While the review included randomized controlled trials, the quality of the studies varied, with newer research generally showing stronger results.

Experts say more data and studies are needed to build on the findings. They also noted that diet plays a crucial role in skin health.

Collagen supplements, often sold as powders or pills, may improve skin elasticity and ease joint pain, experts say. (iStock)

Dr. Erum Ilyas, a Pennsylvania-based dermatologist and chair of dermatology at Drexel University College of Medicine, noted that the review analyzed previously published meta-analyses rather than generating new primary data.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“At this time, I have not seen sufficiently strong independent evidence to routinely recommend collagen supplements to my patients,” Ilyas, who was not involved in the review, told Fox News Digital.

“Although some studies show modest improvements in markers such as hydration and elasticity, there remains limited independent, biopsy-confirmed evidence demonstrating sustained increases in dermal collagen content,” she added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the researchers for comment.

Deirdre Bardolf is a lifestyle writer with Fox News Digital.