Reading Through Colored Plastic Can Help People With Long Covid Read Faster and More Comfortably Dr. Jan Johansson is a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) who recently tested whether using colored overlays (tinted plastic sheets placed over pages of text) helps people with Long Covid–associated visual problems to read quicker and more comfortably. Many people with Long Covid have trouble reading. Among the 29 people with Long Covid participating in this study, 6 in 10 reported strain when reading under f luorescent lights; half reported needing more time to read than before; and 4 in 10 reported strain even when reading clear text. For reasons not fully understood, using colored plastic overlays or colored lenses can reduce eye strain and increase reading speed for people with other neurological conditions affecting vision (like migraine or stroke). Indeed, almost 9 in 10 people taking part in Dr. Johansson’s study said the overlays helped, for example by making them more comfortable or calm while reading or by making the text clearer. Participants read significantly faster with the colored overlays, especially participants with the greatest visual discomfort, the greatest mental fatigue, and the longest-lasting disease. Comparing a dozen options (11 colored, one gray), participants overwhelmingly favored the colored overlays over the gray one—half picked lilac, aqua, or purple, and none picked gray.

The people who live with ME/CFS did not greet Long COVID with surprise. They greeted it with recognition. That recognition was both comforting and devastating. Comforting, because it meant I was not alone. Devastating, because it meant this life had existed, largely unseen, for decades. What I thought was the beginning of a story was, for many, the middle. They had already learned how this illness behaves because their bodies had forced them to learn. They had already paid the price of experimentation. They had already discovered, often the hard way, which mistakes could not be undone. I did not invent this reality. I stepped into it.

The people who live with ME/CFS did not greet Long COVID with surprise. They greeted it with recognition. That recognition was both comforting and devastating. Comforting, because it meant I was not alone. Devastating, because it meant this life had existed, largely unseen, for decades. What I thought was the beginning of a story was, for many, the middle. They had already learned how this illness behaves because their bodies had forced them to learn. They had already paid the price of experimentation. They had already discovered, often the hard way, which mistakes could not be undone. I did not invent this reality. I stepped into it.

Reading Through Colored Plastic Can Help People With Long Covid Read Faster and More Comfortably Dr. Jan Johansson is a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) who recently tested whether using colored overlays (tinted plastic sheets placed over pages of text) helps people with Long Covid–associated visual problems to read quicker and more comfortably. Many people with Long Covid have trouble reading. Among the 29 people with Long Covid participating in this study, 6 in 10 reported strain when reading under f luorescent lights; half reported needing more time to read than before; and 4 in 10 reported strain even when reading clear text. For reasons not fully understood, using colored plastic overlays or colored lenses can reduce eye strain and increase reading speed for people with other neurological conditions affecting vision (like migraine or stroke). Indeed, almost 9 in 10 people taking part in Dr. Johansson’s study said the overlays helped, for example by making them more comfortable or calm while reading or by making the text clearer. Participants read significantly faster with the colored overlays, especially participants with the greatest visual discomfort, the greatest mental fatigue, and the longest-lasting disease. Comparing a dozen options (11 colored, one gray), participants overwhelmingly favored the colored overlays over the gray one—half picked lilac, aqua, or purple, and none picked gray.