Beyond the symptoms that the infection from covid-19 leads to infected people who have been the subject of numerous studies and which fortunately in healthy and vaccinated subjects are now less and less serious, now the focus is also shifting to the so-called Long Covid syndrome.
It is a whole series of symptoms that thousands of people who have contracted the covid confirm to have even several months after recovery from the infection. Symptoms of various kinds that affect different systems of our body including the psychological one.
But what symptoms are we talking about? To reveal the symptoms from Long Covid a recent research published in the prestigious magazine thought about it The Lancet.
Long Covid symptoms: here are what they are
Just as the symptoms of covid-19 infection have been the subject of a long analysis given the exceptionality and novelty of the disease, even those from Long Covid they are still being studied to try to make a complete list.
Several researches were done, the last one was published in the journal The Lancet and it is one of the most important for the huge pool of interested people. The research took into consideration 200 studies on the subject involving about 120 thousand people.
The first interesting fact is that more than half, 57%, demonstrated symptoms from Long Covid even several months after recovery from the disease.
It doesn’t matter if you contracted covid-19 symptomatically or asymptomatically, just as age doesn’t matter. Certainly hospitalized patients, especially those in intensive care, are more likely to have symptoms persist even after recovery. As well as older ones, but also young people and children are not exempt.
On the other hand, it seems certain that there are differences according to the variants: those who took the covid in the first wave seem to be more likely to have persistent alterations in taste and smell. Furthermore, women appear to be at greater risk of persistent symptoms than men.
As for the symptoms that affect millions of people in the world, as mentioned, they are manifold and concern different systems of our body, from cardiovascular (chest pain, chest tightness), to respiratory (shortness of breath) up to musculoskeletal (pain in the bones , muscles, joints).
And then there are symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, appetite disturbances, skin itching, erythema,
hair loss, kidney problems, diabetes, endocrinological imbalances.
The good news is that most of these problems subside as months go by until they completely disappear within 6 months.
Psychological disorders not to be underestimated
Alongside these physical symptoms, some also appear psychological certainly not to be underestimated. There are several people who have contracted covid and who after recovering from the disease admit to noticing a difficulty in concentration, in remembering, in keeping the attention threshold high.
And then there are more severe symptoms like anxietydepression, post-traumatic disorders from
stress, cognitive disturbances or obsessive-compulsive disorders that have worsened in those people who already suffered from them before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Quarantine, fear of contagion, social distancing have had a sometimes devastating impact on the psyche of people, especially in the most fragile ones who have not been able to face this particular historical period in the best way.
The list is constantly updated and as the research that will interest more and more patients goes on it will be possible to reach a clearer picture of what is the disease from Long Covid.