Peak conference lifts lid on central role of mitochondrial health in long covid diagnosis and treatment

5 to 10 percent of COVID-19 cases in Australia lead to Long COVID

Latest research supports integrated medicine approach to Long COVID patient care

Understanding of mitochondrial health integral to post-pandemic recovery

Nutritional medicine experts will lift the lid on the pervasive and insidious impacts of long COVID at the peak annual conference for the integrative medicine community in Melbourne this weekend.

Hundreds of practitioners will converge at the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) Annual Conference 2023 titled, “Long COVID Navigating the Complexity: A Clinician’s Roadmap,” where audiences will hear from leading researchers, clinicians and therapists about the latest scientific evidence and approaches to tackling the ongoing problem of long COVID including pathways to simplifying diagnosis and exploring potential evidence-backed treatment protocols.

Clinicians are still seeing first-hand the unprecedented health challenges presented by Long COVID on our health system, with latest estimates showing that in Australia, around five to 10 percent of COVID-19 cases lead to Long COVID.

Highly regarded integrative physician, Christabelle Yeoh will be among the speakers discussing her clinical and theoretical expertise in the mitochondria’s role in regulating inflammatory and immune functions and how this intersects with long COVID.

Another respected practitioner in the integrative health field who will give an address about this is high-profile media health commentator, Community Pharmacist and Herbalist, Gerald Quigley.

Mr Quigley’s speaker session will examine the crucial role mitochondrial health plays in management of long COVID, “I will be presenting science-based evidence for nutritional and lifestyle interventions in better outcomes for long COVID patients.” Some of these interventions include regular exercise, calorie restriction, plant-based diets and antioxidative supplements, to enhance mitochondrial health and to reduce the severity of and likelihood of long COVID.

Supplementation includes nutritional compounds which support immune function, as well as those such as ubiquinol which support mitochondrial energy production, which has been shown to be impaired by viral infection, resulting in fatigue.

Long COVID in Australia has not gone away despite much less media focus, so much so that it recently prompted a full Parliamentary Inquiry which heard submissions of evidence from healthcare practitioners and other groups about issues and inconsistencies around access to care and models of care for Long COVID.

Recent research shows that the impact of Long COVID and potential long-term post-COVID disabilities could contribute substantially to the COVID-19 burden in Australia’s post-vaccination setting. As vaccination coverage increases, the share of COVID-19 burden driven by longer-term morbidity rises relative to mortality.

“The best long-term management of long COVID is an integrative approach assessing and managing all factors involved,” Mr Quigley added.