Long COVID: The Effects Of Post COVID Syndrome

Covid-19 infection can have major consequences even months after recovery and in people who were young and perfectly healthy before the disease. Experts call it Long Covid or post-Covid syndrome: about one-third of Sars-Cov-2 positive patients continue to have symptoms 6 weeks after becoming virus negative.

Long Covid: the most frequent complaints

Several scholars in recent months have questioned the persistent symptoms of patients cured of covid-19. A study by King’s College London, using an app involving four million people, showed that sixty thousand of them reported certain complaints for more than three months after the end of the acute phase, which usually lasts 21 days. As a result, it is estimated that there could be almost four million people in the world with this condition.

Fatigue and chronic tiredness are the most frequent complaints among former covid patients, in addition to shortness of breath, long covid pain, memory loss, difficulty in concentrating, widespread joint pain, skin rashes, headaches and dizziness, and insomnia.

The feeling of tiredness may be a consequence of the immune reaction to the residues of the virus in the body, or it may be due to a reduced flow of oxygenated blood in the body. It should also be noted that the cells lining the walls of the intestine are also affected by the infection. The virus persists in the feces for a long time, even if it is no longer detected by nasal swabs, and until the intestinal bacterial balance is restored, you may experience a lack of appetite, weight loss, and a sense of exhaustion.

Some patients may have depressive symptoms or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. According to a study, about 50% of people interviewed who had direct experience of covid said they suffered from depressive symptoms while 30% had problems with anxiety, long covid pain, stress, and other trauma-related disorders. There are even more, different people who were left with different health issues.

Therefore, it is necessary to care about health even if you’re healed from COVID. Still, you might face some common health issues like Long covid pain, headache, dizziness, and other issues.

Research: effects on heart and brain

In addition to the damage to the lungs, covid would also have long-term effects on the heart and brain. In the latter case, for example, research was published in Neurology Clinical Practice involving 74 Covid-positive patients with an average age of 64.

More than half of the participants had a history of neurological disease. Among them, some had suffered strokes, seizures and movement disorders, while the highest proportion of subjects experienced confusion and mental impairment.

Long Covid, how digital technology can help

The high proportion of patients cured of the infection who experience persistent symptoms even months after recovery is a finding that deserves close attention from doctors.

The prolonged effects of the disease suggest the adoption of targeted treatment paths and a monitoring system even for patients considered cured. Thanks to new technologies, all this can be simple and immediate.

A solution such as Telemedicine, video consultation with a doctor, for example, makes it possible to simplify doctor-patient communication and to request healthcare at a distance and online.