It’s estimated that one in five adults who have had COVID-19 suffer from long COVID, months even years after being infected. Now, researchers in New Jersey are testing a treatment that could help those suffering with the often debilitating symptoms. Nurse Debbie Turner has spent three decades caring for patients, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the frontline worker was the patient. “There are a couple days that I just don’t remember at all, “ says Turner , a nurse at the Center for Ambulatory Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center. Now, more than two years after her infection, he’s still battling symptoms of long COVID. She says, “I still have problems with my memory, brain fog. I still get short of breath.” Dr. Manisha Parulekar is the Director of the division of Geriatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center. “ There is still so much unknown about this virus,” she says. As scientists work to better understand long COVID, treatment usually focuses on relieving symptoms. A new study at Hackensack is testing whether Omega 3 supplements can help. Dr. Parulekar says, “Because we know covid is an inflammatory process, could fish oil supplements minimize the inflammation which could be causing the long term symptoms?” Dr. Parulekar is leading the study. The Omega 3 supplement is a specific formulation that’s different from products purchased over-the-counter. Turner is one of 30 participants in the study’s first round. “I don’t know if I really felt a difference, but I felt hopeful that no matter what happens, if I’m on the placebo or taking this, all of this is aimed at finding something that may work,” she says. She says she is proud to be part of research that could help long COVID patients get their lives back.Previous studies in Europe and Israel reported some positive results on Omega 3s. Right now, the participants in New Jersey are all healthcare workers at Hackensack University Medical Center.
It’s estimated that one in five adults who have had COVID-19 suffer from long COVID, months even years after being infected. Now, researchers in New Jersey are testing a treatment that could help those suffering with the often debilitating symptoms.
Nurse Debbie Turner has spent three decades caring for patients, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the frontline worker was the patient. “There are a couple days that I just don’t remember at all, “ says Turner , a nurse at the Center for Ambulatory Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Now, more than two years after her infection, he’s still battling symptoms of long COVID. She says, “I still have problems with my memory, brain fog. I still get short of breath.”
Dr. Manisha Parulekar is the Director of the division of Geriatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center. “ There is still so much unknown about this virus,” she says.
As scientists work to better understand long COVID, treatment usually focuses on relieving symptoms. A new study at Hackensack is testing whether Omega 3 supplements can help. Dr. Parulekar says, “Because we know covid is an inflammatory process, could fish oil supplements minimize the inflammation which could be causing the long term symptoms?”
Dr. Parulekar is leading the study. The Omega 3 supplement is a specific formulation that’s different from products purchased over-the-counter.
Turner is one of 30 participants in the study’s first round. “I don’t know if I really felt a difference, but I felt hopeful that no matter what happens, if I’m on the placebo or taking this, all of this is aimed at finding something that may work,” she says. She says she is proud to be part of research that could help long COVID patients get their lives back.
Previous studies in Europe and Israel reported some positive results on Omega 3s. Right now, the participants in New Jersey are all healthcare workers at Hackensack University Medical Center.