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One person thought her heart would burst out of her chest, another lost her ability to talk, and three other people had such extreme exhaustion that they spent the most of each day in bed, a bathtub, or a wheelchair. The oldest is 65 years old, while the youngest is 23. All except one are employed in jobs connected to health. Each has a unique collection of incapacitating symptoms, but they all have at least one thing in common—an immune system that has been thrown off balance by the coronavirus—making them the largest group of patients with long-term Covid. Similarities to other chronic illnesses are coming into focus as researchers work to comprehend the syndrome, which is shedding light on its causes and potential therapies.
Two years have passed since the first warning about Covid-19’s long-term implications from a group of UK physicians and researchers. The cost of extended Covid in the US is estimated by Harvard University economist David Cutler to be $3.7 trillion. That is more than 80% of what the government spent on the epidemic up to the end of July. Additionally, researchers are still unsure of its origins, the number of individuals it affects, or the best ways to treat and prevent it. More than 200 symptoms, many of which might have other origins, are linked to what the World Health Organization terms “post Covid-19 syndrome,” clouding their perspective.
Many instances resolve on their own, and not all cases are severe. However, the demand is growing since there are thought to be at least 140 million victims globally.
Long-Covid patients are disproportionately female. The tiredness, quick heartbeat, and other perplexing symptoms experienced by those who were interviewed for this article point to the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has harmed their neural systems. Even minor Covid lung infections may result in blood vessel damage, clotting, and a breach in the barrier separating the brain from the circulation, according to research from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland. According to a research published in July by Avindra Nath, the institute’s clinical director, this may enable bloodborne proteins to enter a patient’s brain and cause harmful inflammation. According to some studies, the process is linked to brain shrinkage, which might affect memory and thinking and last up to ten years and is comparable to normal ageing.
Researchers are now working to separate these shared characteristics from a variety of plausible explanations. Top possibilities include unusual immune system activity, blood clots, the reactivation of viruses that caused illnesses in the past, and the potential that the body’s defences are being engaged by persisting coronavirus remnants.
New research in this area is providing clues for prospective therapies, including pressure chambers that force oxygen into the blood, medications that quiet an overactive immune system, and the elimination of aberrant proteins from plasma. Numerous studies that will be completed in the next year are expected to provide information for Covid long-haulers.
