Well, Now

“People Feel Like They’re Drowning”: The Long COVID Survivors Left Behind

 With symptoms ranging from fatigue to cognitive impairment, Long COVID still confounds physicians. It doesn’t help that most of the nation has already moved on.

Episode Notes

While most of the world moves on from COVID-19, millions of Americans remain in limbo: Those living with Long COVID.

Long COVID symptoms are vast and can impact all parts of the body: from gastrointestinal tract issues and fatigue to autoimmune inflammation and cognitive impairment.

On this week’s episode of Well, Now – Kavita and Maya talk with Dr. Wes Ely, an ICU physician based in Nashville, Tenn.

As the co-director of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship Center, he is one of many doctors demanding our country’s leaders not to leave their patients behind.

If you liked this episode, check out: Life After Lockdown

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com.

About the Show

We all want to achieve wellness, but how many of us have a clear understanding of what it is or how to measure it? Some believe it’s meeting a certain set of metrics around health. Others see it as becoming a more effective self-advocate when navigating our health challenges, or creating a balance in work, fitness, and family that promotes a sense of well-being. However we define wellness, we can all use advice from thoughtful people about how to find it for ourselves.

That’s the mission of Slate’s new podcast Well, Now. Each week our hosts, Maya Feller and Kavita Patel, will tackle a new issue around wellness, from the latest exercise craze, to the controversy over BMI, to the best ways to promote sleep hygiene. Every episode aims to give listeners a new understanding of wellness, and how to reach it.

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Hosts

  • Maya Feller is a registered dietitian and contributor to ABC’s Good Morning America, and an advisory board member for SHAPE and Parents. Her expertise can be found in the New York Times, Well+Good, and more. She is also the author of Eating From Our Roots: 80+ Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites From Cultures Around the World and based in New York City.

  • Dr. Kavita Patel is a D.C.-based primary care physician who has a rich background in health and health policy, having served the Obama administration and as a policy analyst to Sen. Edward Kennedy. She’s also a medical contributor for NBC News/MSNBC and a columnist for MSNBC.