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For most people, Covid-19 is a brief and mild disease but has been struggling with symptoms for several months, including constant fatigue, constant pain and shortness of breath.
The condition known as “long covid” is having a debilitating effect on people’s lives, and stories of getting tired even after a short walk are now commonplace.
So far, the focus has been on saving lives during epidemics, but there is now a growing belief that people are facing the long-term consequences of covid infection.
Yet even basic questions – such as why people get a long covid or whether everyone will recover – are flooded with uncertainty.
What is a long covid?
There is no medical definition or list of symptoms shared by all patients – two people with long colic can have very different experiences.
However, the most common feature is disability fatigue.
Other symptoms include: Shortness of breath, a cough that does not go away, joint pain, muscle aches, hearing and vision problems, headaches, loss of smell and taste, as well as damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys and intestines.
There have been reports of mental health problems involving frustration, anxiety and a struggle to think clearly.
It can completely destroy people’s lifestyles. “I’ve never felt tired before,” said Jade Gray-Christie, a victim.
Long covids aren’t just people who take the time to recover from a time spent in intensive care. Even people with relatively mild infections can be left with permanent and serious health problems.
“We have no doubt that covid has been around for a long time,” Professor David Strain of the University of Exeter, who is already seeing long-covid patients at his chronic fatigue syndrome clinic, told the BBC.
How many people are getting it?
A study of 143 people at Rome’s largest hospital, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed after hospital patients were discharged.
It showed that after about two months 87% had at least one symptom and more than half still had fatigue.
However, such studies only focus on a minority of people who need hospital treatment.
UV The Covid Symptom Tracker App used by nearly 4 million people in India – 12% of people still show symptoms after 30 days. Its latest, unpublished data suggests that as many as 50 (2%) of all infected people have long-covid symptoms after 90 days.
Do you need a serious covid to get a long covid?
It appears.
Half of the people in a Dublin study had fatigue even 10 weeks after being infected with the coronavirus. The third was physically unable to return to work.
Critically, doctors found no link between the severity of the infection and fatigue.
However, extreme fatigue is just one symptom of long covid.
Professor Chris Brightling, chief investigator at the University of Leicester and chief investigator of the PHOSPS-Covid project, which monitors people’s recovery, believes that people with pneumonia may have more problems with lung damage.
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Lung scans infected with coronavirus showing areas of pneumonia
How does the virus cause long covid?
There are a lot of ideas, but no definite answers.
The virus may have cleared most of the body, but in some small pockets it remains elongated.
Tim Specter, a professor at King’s College Ledge London, says, “If you have long-term diarrhea, you can see the virus in the gut. Says Specter.
Coronavirus can directly infect different types of cells in the body and stimulate a hypersensitive immune response, causing damage throughout the body.
One idea is that after Kovid the immune system will not return to normal and this will lead to poor health.
Infections can also change how people’s organs work. This is obvious if the lung is scarred – long-term problems have been seen after SARS or MERS infections, both of which are coronaviruses.
But covid can also change people’s metabolism. Covid has resulted in cases where people struggle to control blood sugar levels after the development of diabetes, and SARS has been altering body fat processes for at least 12 years.
There are early signs of a change in brain structure, but this is still being investigated. And Covid-19 also does weird things, including abnormal blood clots and damage to the network of blood vessels around the body.
- Within Health: Sticky Blood and Covid 19
Pro. “The principle I’m working on is the premature aging of small blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the tissues,” Strain told the BBC. But he warned that “until we find out what is the cause of the long covid.”
Is this unusual?
Post-viral fatigue or post-viral cough is well documented and common – we all probably had an infection that took ages to fully recover.
One in 10 people with glandular fever have fatigue that lasts for months. And there have been suggestions that the flu, especially after the 1918 epidemic, could be linked to symptoms such as Parkinson’s.
Prophet Brightling says, “Symptoms appear farther away from Kovid and the number of people seems much higher.”
The emphasis is on the word “feel,” they say, until the true picture of how many people are infected will be that we don’t know exactly how common these symptoms are.
He told the BBC: “The specificity of the way the virus attacks the host and then changes the behavior of the cells seems to give people a more serious infection than other viruses and persistent symptoms.”
Will people be completely healthy?
The number of long-haired people appears to be declining over time.
However, before going global earlier this year, the virus only came out in late 2019 so there is a lack of long-term data.
Prophet Brightling said, “We have asked people to follow intentionally for 25 years. I hope there will be a problem with just a very small number going beyond one year, but I would be wrong.”
However, there is concern that even if people recover now, they may face lifelong risks.
It is more likely to recur in people with long-term fatigue syndrome and the concern is that the infection may cause more flare-ups in the future.
“I expect a slight recovery if the long covid follows the same pattern, but if it takes another coronavirus infection to respond, this could be every winter,” Pro. Said Strain.
It is possible that more problems will arise in the future.
The World Health Organization warns that widespread inflammation caused by coronavirus can lead to heart problems at a very young age.
What should I do if I think I have a long covid?
The NHS has an “your covid recovery plan” with advice, especially for those in need of hospital treatment.
He recommends “three PS” to save three holidays:
- Pace yourself so you don’t push yourself too hard and make sure you have plenty of rest
- Plan your days so that your most tedious activities spread throughout the week
- Prioritize – think about what you need to do and what you can stop
If you do not recover as quickly as you would like, it is best to call your hospital team or your GP. Advises to talk to.
Some have expressed concern that there is not enough support for long-haired people.
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