Complaints persist long after the corona infection: Which factors promote Long Covid – are you at risk?

Created: 03/15/2022, 14:25

By: Juliane Gutmann

You don't feel healthy even weeks after surviving the coronavirus infection?

Long Covid could be behind this.

Some people are more at risk than others.

Doctors speak of long Covid when patients are still suffering from symptoms long after they have survived the corona infection.

These can vary greatly depending on the course of the disease, the age of the patient or previous illnesses.

In order to paint a more consistent picture of Long Covid, an international team of researchers analyzed the data from 16 studies dealing with Covid-specific symptoms in a large-scale investigation.

The conclusion of the researchers led by Sandra Lopez-Leon from Novartis Pharmaceuticals based in New Jersey, USA:

.

"Most of the effects correspond to clinical symptoms such as fatigue, headache, joint pain, anosmia (editor's note: smell disorder), ageusia (editor's note: taste disorder), etc. Diseases such as stroke and diabetes mellitus were also observed," the informed researcher.

More recent studies on Long Covid also show that it is not a rare phenomenon.

As the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) informs, an estimated two to 20 percent of adults suffering from corona still suffer from symptoms after twelve or more weeks.

.

In this group, a full 76 percent of the patients were still suffering from long-Covid symptoms six months after discharge, the BZgA refers to current studies.

Corona vaccination survey

According to the BZgA, the

most frequently reported by patients or observed in studies include:

• fatigue

• Fatigue and limited resilience

• headache

• difficulty breathing

• Disorders of smell and taste

• muscle weakness and pain

• concentration and memory problems

• Depressive moods as well as sleep and anxiety disorders

• hair loss

• chest pain

• palpitations and palpitations

• myocarditis

• Kidney and metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus*

• thromboembolism (blockage of a vessel by a blood clot)

Also read:

Don't want to miss any health news?

You can subscribe to the Merkur Health Newsletter here

also read

Recall of vaccination certificates: Documents are suddenly said to be invalid

The Corona-Warn-App has received an update that recognizes fake vaccination certificates.

With the so-called hotfix, however, some valid proofs are now also invalid.

Recall of vaccination certificates: Documents are suddenly said to be invalid

Thunderstorm cell discharges over Tölzer Land: streets flooded - a region particularly affected

A thunderstorm cell erupted in the early morning hours on Thursday, especially over Bad Heilbrunn.

There was lightning, thunder and heavy rain for over an hour.

The result: flooded roads and calls for the fire brigades.

Thunderstorm cell discharges over Tölzer Land: streets flooded - a region particularly affected

"Control of proof of recovery" is written on a sign in Leibniz University.

But even those who are considered recovered can still suffer from corona symptoms.

Doctors refer to this clinical picture as Long Covid.

(Archive image) © Ole Spata/dpa

Diabetes to reactivated Epstein-Barr virus: risk factors that favor Long Covid

Some corona patients have a higher risk of contracting Long Covid.

According to the Federal Center for Health Education, the long-Covid triggers include

Gender also seems to play a role: women are disproportionately affected by exhaustion syndrome as a long-term consequence of corona.

A research team led by Yapeng Su from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, USA, has now found other risk factors for Long Covid.

"We subjected 309 Covid-19 patients to a detailed multimicroscopic longitudinal examination from the initial diagnosis to convalescence (2-3 months later)," says the study published on the specialist portal

.

At the time of the first corona diagnosis, the US researchers identified four conspicuously common long-Covid risk factors:

Autoantibodies are

target the body's own tissue.

Apparently, Covid-19 sufferers form a large number of such antibodies, which can be detected up to six months after the acute illness and may be involved in the development of the long Covid syndrome, the Pharmazeutische Zeitung also informs, citing research at Cedars-Sinai Los Angeles Medical Center.