Imai, Kazuaki, Yamano, Takafumi, Nishi, Soichiro et al. · Viruses · 2022 · DOI
This study tested a Japanese treatment called epipharyngeal abrasive therapy (EAT) on 58 long COVID patients. The treatment involves applying zinc chloride to the back of the throat to reduce inflammation. Patients received weekly treatments for one month, and three common symptoms—fatigue, headaches, and difficulty concentrating—improved significantly after treatment.
This research is relevant to ME/CFS because long COVID and ME/CFS share overlapping symptoms including post-exertional malaise, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. If epipharyngeal inflammation contributes to these conditions, a targeted anti-inflammatory approach could offer a new therapeutic avenue for symptom management in both populations.
This study does not prove that EAT is an effective long COVID or ME/CFS treatment because it lacks a control group and relies on subjective symptom reporting without objective biomarkers. The improvement in symptoms could reflect placebo effect, natural recovery, or other confounding factors. Results cannot be generalized beyond the specific population studied, and long-term efficacy remains unknown.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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