The majority of COVID-19 cases are resolved promptly. However, some people acquire long COVID-19, a collection of devastating chronic health conditions that can last weeks, months, or even years.
According to new British research, up to 6 in 10 long COVID-19 patients continue to battle some type of moderate organ impairment a year after their first COVID-19 diagnosis, resulting in some combination of respiratory trouble, mental impairment, and reduced quality of life.
Organ Impairment
“We know that the people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 at the beginning are more at risk of developing new chronic diseases, such as diabetes, and higher rates of heart disease,” said study author Amitava Banerjee, a professor of clinical data science at University College London’s Institute of Health Informatics.
Despite the fact that just 13% of the 536 patients who participated in the study were hospitalized owing to their initial COVID-19 infection, they all had extended COVID-19 symptoms, according to Banerjee.
Three-eighths of the study participants had extreme dyspnea six months after their first COVID-19 diagnosis, 48% had difficulty thinking clearly, and 57% reported poor health-related quality of life.
Participants in the study got a multi-organ MRI body scan about six months after their first COVID-19 diagnosis. The scans revealed that 62% of the patients had minor organ dysfunction, involving the heart, liver, kidney, and/or spleen.
After a year, the patients got another MRI scan. Their symptoms had improved somewhat by that point, but 30% still had breathing problems, 38% had thinking and memory impairments, and 45% had a lower quality of life.
After a year, approximately 59% still had a single-organ impairment and 27% had multi-organ impairment. He further stressed that this study does not establish that long-term COVID causes organ damage, merely that there is a link between the two.
Yet, he underlined that the scans show that the organs of these long-term COVI19 patients were “not normal” and “not functioning properly.”
The majority of patients infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) feel better after a few days or weeks of their first symptoms and recover completely within 12 weeks. Symptoms may linger longer for some folks.
This is known as long COVID syndrome or post-COVID-19 syndrome. Long COVID is a novel condition that is still being researched.
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Long COVID-19 Symptoms
The following are the most common symptoms of extended COVID-19:
- extreme exhaustion (fatigue)
- breathing difficulty
- olfactory deficiency
- Aches and pains in the muscles
Yet, following a COVID-19 infection, you may experience a variety of symptoms, including:
- difficulties with memory and attention (“brain fog”)
- stiffness or pain in the chest
- sleep difficulties (insomnia)
- palpitations in the heart
- dizziness
- needles and pins
- joint discomfort
- Anxiety and depression
- Earaches, tinnitus
- diarrhea, stomach pains, and loss of appetite
- a fever, a cough, headaches, a sore throat, and alterations in one’s sense of smell or taste
- rashes
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