There is a phenomenon called long COVID. Some people, especially ones who suffered through more severe cases, experience unpleasant symptoms months after the infection is gone.
Now scientists at the University of Leicester and Loughborough University have revealed that long COVID patients who were hospitalized face limited recovery after one year.
Some symptoms may remain long after COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been eliminated from the body. Image credit: dronepicr via Wikimedia (CC-BY 2.0)
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Scientists from 53 institutions and 83 hospitals across the UK analyzed data of 2,230 adults who had been hospitalised with COVID-19. All participants were assessed after 5 months and 807 of them were assessed after 12 months as well. Researchers measured people’s physical performance and organ function and asked some questions about the recovery. This study showed that less than 3 in 10 patients in the study reported they felt fully recovered after one year. Sadly, this number was largely unchanged from the 5 month assessment.
How does the long COVID look like? Well, participants reported fatigue, muscle pain, physically slowing down, poor sleep and breathlessness. Many people with long COVID reported that their physical health was substantially worse than pre-COVID times.
Scientists revealed that the information they have and participants’ personal assessment shows that physical and mental health impairments associated with the long COVID are unlikely to be pre-existing conditions. These people feel genuinely worse even a year after being discharged from the hospital. Blood tests confirmed that these symptoms were not psychosomatic – scientists could detect signs of inflammation.
Who experiences long COVID? Well, no one is safe from it, but it usually bothers obese, female patients and those who required invasive mechanical ventilation.
Professor Chris Brightling, chief Investigator for the study, said: “Our findings show that people who were hospitalised and went on to develop Long-COVID are not getting substantially better a year after they were discharged from hospital. Many patients in our study had not fully recovered at five months and most of these reported little positive change in their health condition at one year.”
Many long COVID symptoms are treatable and should be treated. Scientists encourage policy makers and healthcare system professionals to think about the long COVID and how it can be treated to prevent this from being a new chronic health condition people just need to learn to live with.
Brain fog, fatigue, physical slowing down – all of those symptoms affect people’s quality of life and need to be addressed at the doctor's office. There are treatments that may help, even if the research in this area is still lacking. Scientists are looking into it now and you should consult your doctor if you're experiencing any long COVID symptoms.
Source: University of Leicester