At least one in eight patients recovering from coronavirus continues to exhibit at least one symptom of the long covid. These are the results of a study published in the latest issue of Lancet.
In most cases, these are chest pains, breathing difficulties, muscle aches, loss of taste and smell and a state of general exhaustion. But, according to the authors, cases of psychological and mental consequences will also be examined in the future.
Tiredness and headache are the main symptoms of long Covid
Tiredness and headache are the most common symptoms reported by patients more than four months after Covid-19. Other persistent symptoms, muscle aches, cough, changes in smell and taste, fever, chills and nasal congestion. This was revealed by scientists from the Medical College of Georgia in the US in a study just published in the journal ScienceDirect.
“There are many symptoms that we did not know about at the beginning of the pandemic, but now it is clear that there is a long Covid syndrome and that many people are affected by it,” explains Elizabeth Rutkowski, neurologist and author of the study that reports the preliminary results of the first 200 patients’ enrolled in the Covid-19 Neurological and Molecular Prospective Cohort Study in Georgia, or CONGA, recruited on average 125 days after testing positive for Covid-19. CONGA was founded at the MCG at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to examine the severity and longevity of neurological problems and began enrolling participants in March 2020, with the ultimate goal of recruiting 500 people over five years. 80% of the top 200 participants reported neurological symptoms with fatigue, the most common symptom, reported by 68.5%, and headache, close to 66.5%. Just over half reported changes in smell (54.5%) and taste (54%) and nearly half (47%) exhibited mild cognitive impairment, with 30% demonstrating altered vocabulary and 32 % reduced working memory. 21% reported confusion while hypertension was the most common medical condition reported by the participants in addition to the encounter with Covid-19.
25% experienced depression and diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea
No participant reported having had a stroke, weakness or inability to control the muscles involved in speaking, and coordination problems were some of the less frequently reported symptoms. 25% experienced depression and diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea. Anemia and a history of depression were associated with 18% who met the objective criteria for anxiety.
The first members were mostly women, 35.5% men. They had an average of 44.6 years, nearly 40% were black and 7% had been hospitalized due to Covid-19. Black participants were generally disproportionately affected, investigators say. 75% of black participants and 23.4% of white participants met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment. The results likely indicate that cognitive tests evaluate different ethnic groups differently. And socioeconomic, psychosocial (family problems, depression, and sexual abuse), and physical health factors in general can disproportionately affect black individuals, the researchers write. It could also mean that cognitive testing can overestimate clinical damage in disadvantaged populations.
Neuropsychiatric symptoms in the acute phase of the infection
Neuropsychiatric symptoms are seen in the acute phase of infection, but careful characterization of how they evolve over time is needed. And particularly for some individuals, they persist. Even some formerly active individuals, who normally worked 80 hours a week and exercised daily, may find themselves only able to be fit for about an hour a day and stay in bed the rest, Rutkowski says.
At least part of the reason SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have such a broad impact is that the virus is known to attach itself to the angiotensin-2 converting enzyme, or ACE2, which is pervasive in the body. Rutkowski notes that their study results may be somewhat skewed towards high ongoing symptom rates because the study is likely attracting a high percentage of individuals with concerns about ongoing problems.
Therapy based on L-Arginine and Vitamin C
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially defined it “post Covid-19 condition”, a condition of persistence of signs and symptoms that continue or develop beyond 12 weeks from the end of the most severe phase of the disease. Persistent cough, difficulty breathing, fatigue or muscle weakness even after healing, are talking about Long Covid, as explained by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. It is estimated that one in three patients suffer from it. The study “Combining L-Arginine with Vitamin C Improves Long-Covid Symptoms: The Nationwide Multicenter Lincoln Study” recently published in the journal Pharmacological Research (IF 10.334) demonstrated the efficacy of L-Arginine and Vitamin C therapy in improving of the symptoms of Long Covid on 1,390 patients selected throughout the national territory.
Treatment significantly reduced all symptoms evaluated
The treatment statistically significantly reduced all the symptoms evaluated, with particular reference to chronic fatigue (asthenia), dyspnoea and subjective perception of exercise tolerance. The analysis, coordinated by Bruno Trimarco, was carried out by the Itme consortium (International Translational Research and Medical Education), created by the Federico II University in collaboration with the Albert Einstein Institute of Medicine in New York with Gaetano Santulli, cardiologist expert in endothelium and the important involvement of Damor, a historic Neapolitan pharmaceutical company. The causes of the lasting manifestations of Long-Covid are unknown. The disease, in the most serious cases, can trigger a strong inflammatory response capable of giving rise to thrombosis phenomena. In addition to representing a risk in the acute phase of the infection, these, widespread especially with the first variants and without the protection guaranteed by vaccines, may have left their mark on the affected organs. One aspect, combined with a possible virus-induced autoimmune reaction, is one of the main suspects behind the Long-Covid.
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