- Recent studies show that coronavirus infection can cause long-term symptoms affecting multiple organs.
- Shortness of breath, fatigue, and “brain fog” are among the most common symptoms of long COVID.
- Research into the mechanisms of long COVID and possible treatments is ongoing.
Infection with the novel coronavirus could lead to long-term problems in the small airways of the lungs, even in people who had a mild infection, say researchers.
This adds to a growing list of lingering symptoms and complications that can occur after coronavirus infection — known collectively as long COVID.
Shortness of breath, fatigue, and “brain fog” are among the most common symptoms of long COVID.
For some people, symptoms continue after their initial infection. For others, complications may appear weeks or months later.
Research into the mechanisms of long COVID and possible treatments are ongoing.
In another recent study, a separate group of researchers examined the effect that coronavirus infection has on the brain. And other researchers are testing new treatments for heart-related symptoms of long COVID.
Lung damage in people with long COVID:
In a study published March 15 in the journal Radiology, researchers used CT imaging to examine the lungs of 100 adults who had COVID-19 and continued to have symptoms for at least 30 days after their diagnosis.
Researchers compared the CT findings of these participants with those from a group of 106 healthy participants.
Participants who had COVID-19 — even if not hospitalized for it — were more likely to have signs of damage in the small airways of the lungs compared with healthy participants.
“There is some disease happening in the small airways independent of the severity of COVID-19,” study author Dr. Alejandro P. Comellas, a pulmonologist and professor of internal medicine at the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, said in a news release. “We need to investigate further to see whether it is transient or more permanent.”
The COVID-19 group included 67 people who were never hospitalized, 17 who were hospitalized but not in the intensive care unit, and 16 who were treated in the ICU.
The most common symptoms in people with long COVID were difficulty breathing, fatigue, and cough.
Among the hospitalized group, almost 35 percent showed signs of air trapping in their lungs on their CT scans, compared with 7.2 percent of the healthy participants.
Around 25 percent of participants who had a coronavirus infection but weren’t hospitalized had signs of air trapping.
Air trapping is a condition in which people are not able to completely empty their lungs when they breathe out. This occurs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and other obstructive airway diseases.
Of the nine people who had a CT scan done more than 200 days after their COVID-19 diagnosis, eight still had air trapping in their lungs.
A separate analysis of the CT images showed evidence of small airways disease related to ongoing inflammation in the lungs or fibrosis. The latter is a condition in which the lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred.
Researchers will continue to follow the participants to see whether their lung function improves or if symptoms persist.
“If a portion of patients continues to have small airways disease, then we need to think about the mechanisms behind it,” Comellas said.
“It could be something related to inflammation that’s reversible, or it may be something related to a scar that is irreversible, and then we need to look at ways to prevent further progression of the disease,” he said.
`There is emerging information regarding risk factors & some non-modifiable such as age, ethnicity and male gender.
However, in terms of modifiable risk factors, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and lung disease infer an increased risk.
Joe Biden has been urging US employers to issue ultimatums to their staff: get vaccinated, or lose your job.The president says he will soon bring in a mandate that requires all healthcare workers to have had the jab, and has urged states to do the same with teachers.In Concord, New Hampshire, it is striking to see some of those attending a large protest against vaccine mandates wearing hospital scrubshttps://www.egypttales.com/2021/10/health-covid-vaccine-why-these-us.html
Taking care of mental health during COVID 19 is very important.
So, to help you, we present 8 great ways to keep your mental health strong.
