Short story: Long Covid ages the body prematurely to a state of senescence. Mitochondria are more dysfunctional in senescence. Get rid of the zombie cells poisoning the mitochondria and we stop deteriorating or get better.(Sounds to simple or how do we get from here to there?):

I am going down too many rabbit holes looking for dots to connect. The result of my latest Don Quixote quest follows . It is open for all to relate or speculate. Titles are randomly listed.

The impact of COVID-19 on accelerating of immunosenescence and brain aging https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11666534/

Targeting Mitochondrial Metabolism as a Strategy to Treat Senescence https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/11/3003

Mitochondrial dysfunction in cell senescence and aging https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9246372/

Biomarkers of cellular senescence and risk of death in humans https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acel.14006

Health and zombie cells in aging https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1034493

Long COVID: a long road ahead https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41426345/

Neuroimmune dynamics and brain aging: mechanisms and consequences https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12673371/

Inflammaging, immunosenescence, and cardiovascular aging: insights into long COVID implications https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11233824/

From aging to long COVID: exploring the convergence of immunosenescence, inflammaging, and autoimmunity https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10628127/

Aging brain: exploring the interplay between bone marrow aging, immunosenescence, and neuroinflammation https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38638424/

Aged brain and neuroimmune responses to COVID-19: post-acute sequelae and modulatory effects of behavioral and nutritional interventions https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37046272/

Neuroimmune dynamics and brain aging: mechanisms and consequences https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41346440/

Neuroimmune dynamics and brain aging: mechanisms and consequences https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10777624/

Mitochondrial dysfunction in cellular senescence: a bridge to neurodegenerative disease https://www.nature.com/articles/s41514-025-00291-4

Cellular senescence: all roads lead to mitochondria https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/febs.16361

The role of mitochondria in cellular senescence https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8720272/