美国国家公共电台 NPR--As the pandemic enters its 4th year, there's still much to learn about long COVID

As the pandemic enters its 4th year, there's still much to learn about long COVID

Transcript¹

Researchers estimate at least 65 million people worldwide have suffered from long COVID. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Dr. Eric Topol about a paper he co-authored on what we know about long COVID.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Dr. Eric Topol has been studying one of the toughest problems of the pandemic - long COVID, people who suffer for months or years instead of days.

ERIC TOPOL: Because it's varied², because there's a diverse - almost every organ system in the body can be affected³, there's unwillingness⁴ to understand this picture.

INSKEEP: Researchers estimate that at least 65 million people worldwide have suffered from long COVID. They may report heart problems or blood clots⁵, fatigue⁶, trouble breathing, autoimmune disorders⁷, even diabetes⁸. Diseases that tend to affect older people strike people under 40.

TOPOL: There's been many who - in the medical community who have been trying to deny long COVID's existence because we don't have a simple blood test to make the diagnosis⁹ like we do for many other clinical conditions. And eventually we will have such a test. But right now, of course, this is all a work in progress.

INSKEEP: Dr. Topol led some of that work in progress. He's a professor of molecular¹⁰ medicine at Scripps Research. For the journal Nature, he co-authored a study of studies gathering¹¹ the available literature to help document long COVID and think through what to do about it.

TOPOL: There are many studies now to show that in some people with long COVID, they have reservoirs of the virus. That is, they have remnants of the virus or even intact replication-competent virus in the gastrointestinal tract¹² or other parts of the body. So they are harboring the virus as a trigger to promote more inflammation, more immune response. And so that isn't necessarily in all people with long COVID, but it has been documented in many. And also it's of interest that one of the drugs we use to treat COVID, Paxlovid, has, in many case reports, helped people with long COVID. And that might be tied into those people who still have a reservoir of virus in their body.

INSKEEP: What are other approaches to treatment?

TOPOL: Well, no treatment has been validated¹³ to be effective yet. And so in our review, we list, you know, the many candidate treatments that can be pursued with definitive¹⁴ trials - everything from pacing to try to have the amount of physical activity modulated¹⁵ to hyperbaric oxygen chambers¹⁶, to ganglion blocks, all sorts of different drugs, apheresis of the blood. There's many different treatments, some of them relatively¹⁷ practical, some of them very inaccessible¹⁸, expensive. But they need to be assessed because so many of these people are in a desperate, disabling condition. These are people who previously¹⁹ were healthy, often, you know, quite athletic²⁰ and now incapable²¹ of their daily life activity.

INSKEEP: Is this correct that you produced this paper with people who have long COVID?

TOPOL: Yeah, this is something, you know, I'm especially proud of because when the journal asked for a comprehensive review, I turned to three people who I think are the most extraordinary leaders in the long COVID space, who actually each have long COVID. They know it personally, and they have been studying this to try to come up with better treatments, better understanding of long COVID. So, you know, Hannah Davis, Lisa McCorkle, Julia Moore Vogel are exemplary researchers who I had the privilege to work with.

INSKEEP: How, if at all, do you think it shaped your findings that you were working with people who are experiencing this themselves?

TOPOL: Well, we don't have enough respect for patients themselves with a condition where you learn from them. And I think this is - perhaps the best way is to have people who are much more familiar with how this virus can affect individuals with objective review of the literature and, of course, the peer review system so that it's not written by people who don't really know the condition.

INSKEEP: Is this a case where the patients, in effect, have known more than the doctors?

TOPOL: There isn't any question of that. Unfortunately, today, too many people who have bona fide long COVID, who are suffering - they'll go to a doctor, and the doctor will just dismiss it. And where there are long COVID clinics, they're oversubscribed and hard to get in. So the lack of the medical communities dealing²² with this inconvenient²³ truth - we have to get over that. We've got to support these folks. We've got to come up with better treatments. And what can't be emphasized enough - there's only one way of preventing long COVID, which is not to get COVID in the first place. And that's another reason not to let our guard down as the pandemic and the virus continues its course.

INSKEEP: Eric Topol, thanks so much.

TOPOL: Thank you, Steve. Great to talk with you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

5 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

7 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

9 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

10 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

13 validated   

v.证实( validate的过去式和过去分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Time validated our suspicion. 时间证实了我们的怀疑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The decade of history since 1927 had richly validated their thesis. 1927年以来的十年的历史，充分证明了他们的论点。 来自辞典例句

14 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

15 modulated   

已调整[制]的，被调的

参考例句：

• He carefully modulated his voice. 他小心地压低了声音。
• He had a plump face, lemur-like eyes, a quiet, subtle, modulated voice. 他有一张胖胖的脸，狐猴般的眼睛，以及安详、微妙和富于抑扬顿挫的嗓音。

16 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

17 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

18 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

19 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

20 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

21 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

22 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

23 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？