«COVID-19 long tail». Expert: You may become disabled for months, if not years

Scientists are paying more and more attention to the next threat related to the coronavirus. It is for people who have had COVID-19. «You cannot feel safe. SARS-CoV-2 can make you disabled for months, if not years, ”warns an emergency medicine specialist. Such a complication may be “brain fog” or debilitating fatigue. But the symptoms of the so-called “COVID-19 long tail” there is more. Here are signs that you’ve had the Coronavirus and still haven’t recovered.

1. It is becoming increasingly clear that there are people who have beaten COVID-19 but have not recovered, and that complications that have arisen can last for many months
2. Dr. Anthony Fauci: The problem could be 10 to 30 percent. people infected with the coronavirus. Many of them are young people
3. Crippling fatigue is the most common persistent symptom in young and previously healthy people who have had COVID-19
4. You can find more about the coronavirus epidemic on the TvoiLokony home page

Long-term effects of COVID-19 – “can last months, if not years”

Everyone is watching with concern the daily reports of new coronavirus infections. Scientists are starting to see another problem that will have to be tackled. It is becoming increasingly clear that there are people who have overcome COVID-19 but have not recovered, and the complications that have arisen may last for many months, if not years, making it impossible to live a normal life.

And while for most of the pandemic the main goal was to save as many lives as possible, now it turns out that it is just as important to help those who survived but experience disability related to the infection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading expert on infectious diseases in the US, estimates that the problem may be 10 to 30 percent. people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Many of them are young people who had no previous health problems. Moreover, the severity of the course of the coronavirus infection does not seem to be the decisive factor here.

1. “Long COVID-19”. Scientists are studying the long-term symptoms of coronavirus infection

As emphasized by emergency medicine specialist Ken Scheppke, it is important to inform the public about the risk of dying from COVID-19, but you must also warn that there are other risks, especially for young healthy people who may think they are less exposed to the risk of death from COVID-XNUMX. infection than the elderly or those with comorbidities. – We do not know if you will not be one of the people suffering from long-term disability – warns the specialist. What conditions may arise?

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Chronic fatigue

The most common persistent symptom in young and previously healthy people who have had COVID-19 is debilitating fatigue, similar to CFS – chronic fatigue syndrome. “Even those who did not have a problem running 10 km before the infection can hardly reach the kitchen without feeling completely exhausted,” says emsworld.com.

In late September, a study by scientists from the Irish Trinity College was published, according to which more than half of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 suffer from chronic fatigue. “ It affects both severely ill and mildly infected patients, ” Trinity College researchers noted, adding that the subjects were analyzed 10 weeks after their COVID-19 symptoms disappeared. In their opinion, this condition is the result of “probable disorders of the immune system after coronavirus infection”.

“ Our study has shown that the fatigue experienced by people who have passed through COVID-19 occurs regardless of whether patients were treated after coronavirus infection in a hospital or had the disease outside the medical facility, ” said lead virologist Liam Townsend.

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Exercise dyspnoea

Exercise breathlessness, defined as breathlessness with exercise or movement, can be a sign of heart failure or lung disease, but doctors are also seeing it in patients who have had COVID-19. Scientists from the American College of Cardiology have determined that patients with mild forms of COVID-19 may experience persistent symptoms of fatigue and shortness of breath for up to 60 days after infection.

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Myocarditis

The coronavirus affects not only the lungs but also the heart. Myocarditis has been observed in some patients during the treatment of COVID-19 patients. It turns out, however, that this condition may also persist after the coronavirus infection has subsided.

1. The coronavirus affects not only the lungs. It affects all organs

An international study by scientists from the University Hospital in Frankfurt (on the Main) showed that the inflammation of the heart muscle persisted in 60 percent. participants, regardless of the time since illness. Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection affected the heart in almost 80%. examined patients.

Myocarditis did not depend on the patient’s previous health problems or the severity and course of his disease.

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Brain fog

The symptoms that can go on for months after you beat COVID-10 One is a condition called “brain fog”. It is a non-medical term used to describe symptoms such as confusion, forgetfulness, inability to focus, and communication problems.

People who have had a severe course of COVID-19 are at risk of “brain fog”. And this applies not only to the elderly, but also to young adults (although the symptoms observed in seniors are more serious).

1. COVID-19 patients can suffer from “brain fog”. It lasts for months

Scientists have not yet understood the exact causes of “brain fog”. One of the reasons may be the body’s immune response, which leads to a mistaken attack on nerve cells.

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Paresthesia

Survivors may develop other neurological disorders including paraesthesia, which are unusual skin sensations (tingling, prickling, feeling cold, burning, numbness) for no apparent physical cause.

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Mental disorders

“Dr. Teodor Postolache, a psychiatrist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, estimates that between one third and half of COVID-19 patients have experienced some mental health problems,” reports the New York Times. Prof. Paul Harrison from the University of Oxford, emphasizing that people who have had coronavirus infection are at greater risk of mental illness. As he emphasizes, this also applies to those patients who did not require hospitalization.

The threats include post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, depression and insomnia. Some may suffer from delirium, a state of confusion in which the person feels disconnected from reality, as if they are dreaming.

Mental disorders that occur in patients after COVID-19 may be associated with the strong experience it causes, as well as with the course of this disease.

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Hair loss

People who have been infected with the coronavirus sometimes also report increased hair loss. It is exactly about the so-called telogen alopecia, a condition where most of the hair is in the resting phase (the so-called telogen phase). This situation may be influenced, among others, by prolonged stress.

You may be interested in:

1. WHO advises what exercises we need in a pandemic
2. Why are women more gentle with COVID-19? Scientists thought about one thing
3. Another complication after COVID-19? It has to do with the teeth

The content of the medTvoiLokony website is intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and their doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.