In Venezuela, where the new coronavirus has not hit as hard as in other South American countries, some patients trying to recover from the disease’s aftermath are seeking answers in alternative therapies.
To deal with pain and regain mobility, there are those who have turned to acupuncture, yoga exercises, and even ozone therapies. And amid little scientific information about its effectiveness, several people say they helped them improve their quality of life.
Henry Alexander Guerrero said he was bedridden for more than five months after contracting COVID-19. Nothing seemed to help him regain the strength of his muscles, he couldn’t take care of himself, and he was afraid he would never be able to get up again.
“I didn’t move at all,” the Venezuelan told The Associated Press after standing up without supporting his hands. He assured it was his first time doing it and it happened after four months of alternative therapies, including acupuncture and therapeutic massages.
“Things are going well now,” said the 44-year-old construction worker excitedly at Miguel Pérez Carreño public hospital in Caracas.
“This man forced me to stop,” he added, pointing to surgeon Juan Mario Montecinos, who since the March quarantine began in Venezuela, has been unable to return to Spain, where he lives, and has since visited rehabilitation centers where he instructed doctors and practiced a dozen acupuncture techniques for patients with COVID-19.
After contracting COVID-19, many patients have to go a long and winding road to recover from the effects that the disease often has on the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver, as well as spinal cord and neurological disorders. diseases. .
Febe Raquel Aular, a 37-year-old surgeon specializing in complementary therapies and coordinator of the plan to care for patients affected by the novel coronavirus in 44 health centers in Caracas, said they use acupuncture and cupping treatments, physiotherapy, breathing exercises there. and massages.
“I teach many acupuncture styles in Europe and in some Latin American countries,” said Montecinos. At first it was not easy to integrate both therapeutic approaches. First, it was necessary to overcome the difficulties of teaching doctors the physiological process that takes place when acupuncture is practiced, the doctor explained.
The authorities “have control through vaccination and all the protocol they have for COVID and we said, ‘we’re going to tackle the side effects now,'” Montecinos said.
Venezuela, which has been part of vaccine trials with Sputnik V since October, signed a contract with Russia in December. The vaccination began on February 18, five days after the arrival of the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Russian vaccine, representing 1% of the total of 10 million initially agreed between the governments of Caracas and Moscow.
Last week, President Nicolás Maduro reported that his government has invested $ 200 million in the 10 million doses that should be in the country by April, when Venezuela is expected to be able to launch a large-scale vaccination campaign.
Venezuelan doctors have been open to alternative treatments for years due to the endemic shortage of drugs and their high prices, so Maduro’s government found fertile ground to promote various medical initiatives.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the president has been a promoter of a range of complementary curative therapies to treat patients with COVID-19, whose medical efficacy has not been proven, in conjunction with the conventional treatment recommended by the World Health Organization . .
According to the Center for Science and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, the South American country has had more than 137,800 infected and more than 1,300 dead so far.
Experts argue that the low number of cases compared to other countries in the region, aside from the early introduction of quarantine, is largely due to the isolation the country is experiencing after years of political, economic and social crisis.
While new procedures are adopted in the treatment of consequences and others are discarded, patients such as Yelitza Marcano, 35, are satisfied.
“I couldn’t lie face down, I couldn’t breathe,” said the woman who has had respiratory problems for nearly a year and, some time after becoming infected, had a chapped chest due to the inflammation caused by it. new coronavirus.
“It was hard for me to breathe, I couldn’t walk much.” But he assured that after undergoing a series of alternative therapies, he managed to inflate a balloon, something that caused him a lot of pain: a small conquest that shows his lungs are getting stronger.