The Strange Case of Blue Legs
A 33-year-old man had a weird problem. After he stood up for about a minute, his legs turned red and then blue. If he kept standing for 10 minutes, his legs looked even bluer.
He also felt a heavy and itchy feeling in his legs. But when he sat down or lay down, his legs went back to their normal color in just two minutes.
This man started having this problem after he got COVID-19. He went to see Dr. Manoj Sivan from the University of Leeds, who did a study about his condition.
What Did The Doctor Find Out?
Dr. Sivan found out that the man had a medical condition where his heart rate goes up too much when he stands. This condition is called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS for short.
But the man’s blue legs were caused by something else, called acrocyanosis. This means that blood collects in the legs and doesn’t flow back up properly.
The doctor said that the man never had this blue-leg problem before getting COVID-19.
The doctor thinks that long COVID might be the reason. Long COVID means that people have health problems for a long time after getting the virus.
People with long COVID can have many different symptoms. Some find it hard to do daily things. Some have problems with their nerves that control blood pressure and heart rate.
Why Is This Important?
This is not the first time doctors have seen acrocyanosis. Children who have nerve problems after a virus sometimes get it. Dr. Sivan’s research shows that people with long COVID often have nerve problems and POTS.
Other illnesses like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (sometimes just called ME) can also cause these nerve problems.
Dr. Sivan wants more people to know about these conditions. He says both patients and doctors need to learn more. This way, they can understand and treat the problems better.
Dr. Sivan’s team is also working on other things. They made a test that people can do at home. This test helps find out if someone has nerve problems.
It’s helpful for people with long COVID, ME, fibromyalgia, and even diabetes, especially if they feel dizzy or faint often.
In the end, this story shows us that the effects of COVID-19 can last a long time. We need to keep learning and finding ways to help people who have long COVID or other similar problems.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about new evidence on rare blood clots after COVID-19 vaccination, and how diets could help manage post-COVID syndrome.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies that low-sodium plant-based diets may prevent COVID-19 better, and results showing zinc could help reduce COVID-19 infection risk.
The study was published in The Lancet.
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