Speakers - 2025

Biography

Dr. Josefine C. Baudrexl studied medicine at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alongside her military training as a medical officer in the German Armed Forces and began her specialist training as an internist at the Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm in 2020. In March 2021, she successfully completed her doctoral thesis on "Facets of sexual self-image in association with the sexual behavior and sexual identity of 45-year-old men in Germany". From 2022 to 2025, she completed a career-relevant assignment in military medical care at a regional medical facility of the German Armed Forces in Erfurt. As part of this, she also took part in a military operation in Jordan lasting several months in 2024. Since 2025, she has been undergoing specialist training as a pulmonologist at the Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm. In addition to her position as coordinator of the lung cancer center, she is scientifically dedicated to the prevention and rehabilitation of smoking- and infection-associated secondary diseases.

Abstract

Introduction: In the past, our working group has already reported on the difficulties of a patient-oriented and successful therapeutic approach to PASC. This can be explained, among other things, by non-specific inflammatory processes and mitochondrial dysfunctions in the musculature, which are not adequately addressed by conventional therapy options. The importance of myoreflex therapy in this context has been outlined in two recent publications as well as at previous congresses. To date, however, no work has been presented in which the positive effects of myoreflex therapy have been presented in comparison to a therapist's simultaneous prolonged attention without effective application of the myoreflex method ("apparent therapy") and in comparison to a genuine placebo group ("no therapy"). To close this gap, the current study was conducted under these study conditions.

Methods: To date, 140 patients have been included in the study. All patients received guideline-based treatment for their PASC. In addition, 55 patients received 5 sessions of effective myoreflex therapy and 57 patients were observed without therapy over the same period. For the first time, 28 patients also received 5 sessions of apparent therapy with the same duration as real myoreflex therapy. There was no effective trigger point stimulation in this treatment arm.

Results: If both groups (placebo + apparent application) are combined, a significant improvement was recorded for all pulmonary performance parameters (DLCO, KCO, FVC, FEV1, RV/TLC, MEF50 and O2 pulse) using myoreflex therapy. The comparison between real myoreflex therapy and apparent myoreflex therapy also showed significant improvements for the parameters DLCO, FEV1 and RV/TLC, but other comparative values only tended to improve.

Conclusion: The interim evaluation of our first placebo-controlled study supports the previous investigations that myoreflex therapy is a novel physiotherapeutic method that can reduce PASC myopathy and associated generalized inflammatory processes, which have not yet been clearly clarified. The comparison with an "apparent therapy" also suggests that even an increase in the amount of time spent by the doctor can achieve improvements in the complex picture of PASC, although this does not reflect the effect strength of the real therapy. The multidimensional genesis of the disease is emphasized, which requires muscle-specific concepts and emotional support as therapy pillars in addition to a drug therapy approach.