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Trauma surgery revealed that the lungs of recovering Covid-19 patients looked much worse, even those of smokers.
Dr Brittany Bankhead-Kendall, associate professor at the Health Sciences Center at Texas Tech University, has treated thousands of people with the disease since the outbreak began in March.
She said x-rays of smokers’ lungs are a bit blurry, but the lungs of coronavirus patients are almost completely white – showing severe scarring and lack of air entry into organs.
She explained in a tweet on “Twitter”: “I don’t know who needs to hear this, but my” post-Covid “lungs seem worse than any kind of terrible smoker’s lung we have seen before.
I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but ‘post-Covid’ lungs seem worse than ANY type of terrible smoker’s lung we’ve ever seen.
And they collapse. And they coagulate.
And the breathlessness persists … and again … and so on.
– Brittany Bankhead-Kendall MD (@BKendallMD) January 4, 2021
Many health experts are focusing on death rates rather than the long-term effects for survivors, Bankhead-Kendall told CBS DFW.
The coronavirus often causes complications such as pneumonia, which occurs when the lungs fill with fluid and become inflamed.
Thank you for hosting me, @NewsNationNow & @MarkieMartin, to discuss the severity of “post-Covid” lungs.
This disease is NOT just binary (where you are asymptomatic or die). There is a LOT of morbidity between the two, and what we fear will turn into years of lung problems. https://t.co/vt6syWJhpq
– Brittany Bankhead-Kendall MD (@BKendallMD) January 6, 2021
When the air sacs fill with fluid, they are unable to absorb the same amount of oxygen, resulting in symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.
Studies have also revealed damage to the epithelial cells that line the airways from the nose to the lungs of coronavirus patients.
Bankhead-Kendall said every patient she had who showed symptoms of the virus had had severe x-rays. Among people without symptoms, severe results show between 70 and 80%.
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She added: “There are still people who say, ‘I’m fine, I have no problem.'”
To show the difference, Bankhead-Kendall shared with CBS DFW three x-ray models: one for a healthy patient, one for a smoker and one for a “Covid-19” patient.
X-rays show a healthy patient a large amount of black space, which means that the person is able to inhale a large amount of air. Meanwhile, the smoker’s x-ray shows white, nebulous lines, indicating inflammation and damage to the walls of the lungs or air sacs.
In comparison, the x-rays of the lungs of a “Covid-19” patient are almost completely white, which is known as pulmonary opacities, which are hazy white clouds that contrast with the darkness of the lungs. , which usually indicates that the lungs are full of things like fluids, bacteria, or cells of the immune system.
It also means that the patient is unable to inhale as much oxygen as usual with a healthy lung.
“You will see a lot of these thick white scars or you will see them all over your lung,” Bankhead-Kendall said. “And if you don’t have any problems now, the fact that on an x-ray of your chest confirms that you might have problems later.”
Some patients have ended up with permanent lung damage or scarring, but it is not clear if this applies to all patients.
Public health experts say that if you are still suffering from shortness of breath after your recovery from “Covid-19”, it is important to contact your primary care doctor immediately.
Source: Daily Mail
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