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Across the world, more than two million people have died from COVID-19 to date. And while death is a very real and frightening prospect, patients are increasingly worried about facing a grim alternative: partial recovery with lingering symptoms, also known as ‘long COVID’.
While most symptoms of the coronavirus tend to subside within a few weeks, some patients find that some symptoms persist long term, even after testing negative for the virus. A study published in the medical journal The Lancet identified five symptoms that COVID patients tend to struggle with most frequently.
And there are reasons to take note. In addition to naming these symptoms, the researchers also came to the surprising conclusion that persistent symptoms are more common than you might think: 76% of patients in the study reported at least one persistent symptom six months after their first symptom. .
With 1,733 subjects and a six-month study period, the researchers estimate their work to be the “largest cohort study with longest follow-up” to date. Using patient data from the PubMed medical database along with follow-up telephone interviews conducted by trained medical staff, the team compiled their list of the five most common symptoms in COVID along. Read on to learn more about these five frightening symptoms, and for more signs of coronavirus, check out If this part of your body hurts, you could have COVID.
Read the original article on Better life.
Fatigue has topped researchers’ list of long-lasting COVID symptoms, mirroring the CDC’s findings. According to the researchers, 63% of study subjects reported fatigue or muscle weakness at the time of their follow-up calls, six months after their first symptom. And for more on how fatigue can affect you after recovering from COVID, see If you have this subtle symptom, you may have already had COVID.
Muscle pain, also known as myalgia, is another common symptom of long-term COVID. A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) found that about 15 percent of “long-haul” patients suffer from muscle pain.
According to a study published in the medical journal Clinical rheumatology, this muscle pain sometimes includes severe back pain in cases of COVID that progress to pneumonia. “Myalgia and fatigue in patients with COVID-19 may last longer than other viral infections and may not respond to conventional pain relievers,” the study authors wrote.
A study published in the journal Sleep medicine recently noted that “very high rates of clinically significant insomnia” have appeared since the start of the pandemic – even among healthy people. It is therefore not surprising that the researchers behind the original study The Lancet found that more than a quarter of their long COVID patients suffered from this symptom at the time of their follow-up call.
According to a question-answer with Rachel manber, MD, director of the Stanford Sleep Health and Insomnia Program (SHIP), several symptoms associated with severe or prolonged cases of COVID can affect sleep. She explains that “depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, nocturnal panic attacks and physical conditions that cause acute or chronic pain” can contribute to chronic sleep disorders. And for more on the surprising symptoms of COVID, check out This strange symptom might be the only sign you have COVID, according to the study.
Anxiety is another commonly reported post-COVID condition after other symptoms have gone away. In fact, the researchers behind the study in The Lancet determined that 23% of subjects continued to suffer from anxiety and depression six months after their first symptom.
Of course, many experts predict that even those who have not contracted coronavirus can struggle with long-term anxiety from the pandemic. Steven taylor, PhD, author of The psychology of pandemics, recently told the BBC that “for an unfortunate minority of people, perhaps 10 to 15 percent, life will not get back to normal” because of the pressure on mental health.
Likewise, depression has been found to be frequently reported after other symptoms of COVID have subsided. Experts believe that depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and other mental health issues are the result of post-traumatic stress.
According to a study published in the journal Brain, behavior and immunity, this has been shown in similar outbreaks, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). In each of these cases, the recovered patients had high rates of mood disturbances, psychosis and suicide one year later. And for more on the long COVID, check out the ‘really disturbing’ long COVID symptom that doctors want you to prepare for.
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