During the COVID-19 pandemic, some people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to experience “long-COVID” symptoms persisting at least three months after recovery from COVID, even after mild cases.
These include difficulty getting through normal activities, faintness and rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, cognitive difficulties, chronic pain, sensory abnormalities, and muscle weakness.
In a new study from Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers found that some patients with long-COVID have long-lasting nerve damage that appears caused by infection-triggered immune dysfunction.
They examined 17 patients with COVID (16 with mild cases) who met WHO criteria for long-COVID.
Evaluations revealed evidence of peripheral neuropathy in 59%. Typical symptoms of neuropathy nerve damage include weakness, sensory changes, and pain in the hands and feet as well as internal complaints including fatigue.
The findings suggest that some long-COVID patients had damage to their peripheral nerve fibers and that damage to the small-fiber type of nerve cell may be prominent.
Most long-COVID neuropathies described so far appear to reflect immune responses to the virus that went off course.
And some patients seem to improve from standard treatments for other immune-related neuropathies.
The team notes that if patients have long-COVID symptoms that aren’t otherwise explained and aren’t improving, they might benefit from discussing neuropathy with their doctor or seeing a neurologist or neuromuscular specialist.
If you care about long COVID, please read studies about the possible cause of long COVID, and how Long COVID could harm your immune system.
For more information about Covid, please see recent studies about new antibody treatment for COVID-19, and results showing a new COVID-19 drug for people with diabetes.
The study is published in Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation and was conducted by Anne Louise Oaklander et al.
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
