FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is offering a new clinic in Fayetteville for patients who still have symptoms of a COVID-19 infection three weeks or more following a positive COVID test.
Some people are reporting that they are continuing to experience COVID-19 symptoms weeks or months after their diagnosis. Commonly called long COVID, these symptoms — such as shortness of breath, muscle aches, cough, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, or difficulty concentrating — are either symptoms that people did not have prior to the virus or ones that have worsened since their diagnosis.
“Because the coronavirus can attack the lungs, heart, brain and other organs, there can be lasting internal damage,” said Sheena CarlLee, MD, a UAMS internal medicine doctor and director of the UAMS Health Long COVID Clinic. “If these organs are damaged, it can significantly increase the risk of long-term health problems.”
CarlLee said the need for the clinic became apparent as she and her colleagues began to see former COVID patients return to the clinic with lingering symptoms from the virus. CarlLee also pointed out that even patients who had mild symptoms when they tested positive can develop other symptoms months later that may be related to their COVID-19 infection.
“We are seeing patients with a wide variety of symptoms that require a unique treatment regimen,” she said. “We treat the whole patient. Our long COVID clinic offers extensive evaluation from a team of students and trained health care providers from the disciplines of medicine, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and radiation sciences. Furthermore, the team works closely with researchers on the Little Rock campus to improve our knowledge and treatment options for patients affected by long COVID.”
The UAMS Health Long COVID Clinic is unique in that it is one of the only clinics in the state dedicated to treating long COVID, said CarlLee.
The clinic is located at the UAMS Health Neighborhood Clinic at 1125 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville. To schedule an appointment, please call 479-713-8701.