In a study from Scripps Research Translational Institute and elsewhere, scientists found that long COVID may last indefinitely for some people.
They suggest that long COVID might be a bigger threat than has been realized.
Previous studies have found that some people infected with the COVID-19 virus develop symptoms beyond the respiratory system.
Patients have reported feeling deep fatigue, irregular heartbeat, numbness in extremities and even trouble with organs such as their liver or bladder.
Over time, these patients have been diagnosed with long COVID.
A lot of research has been conducted regarding the respiratory system, including treatments and therapies, and in creating vaccines.
But little has been done to solve the mystery of long COVID or to treat those who claim to have it. In this new effort, the researchers took a hard look at research by a variety of groups.
In the current study, the team found evidence suggesting that approximately 10% of people infected with COVID-19 develop long COVID and that it is most prevalent in people between the ages of 36 and 50.
The researchers also found that people who have mild cases of long COVID will likely recover from it within a year.
However, for those with more severe symptoms, the outlook is grim. They found few signs that symptoms will ever lessen.
The team also found that in many cases, the symptoms of long COVID become nearly indistinguishable from several other conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndrome.
Notably, many such symptoms are consistent with autonomic dysfunction.
The researchers also found many instances of patients suffering from long COVID who had symptoms identical to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.
The findings suggest that these patients will live with their symptoms for the rest of their lives.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to severe COVID-19, and Mediterranean diets could help people recover after COVID infection.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies about antibodies that block all the COVID-19 variants, and results showing zinc could help reduce COVID-19 infection risk.
The study was conducted by Hannah E. Davis et al and published in the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology.
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