Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Jun 23, 2024 0:31:13 GMT
Long COVID symptoms: What we know—and don’t know—about the mysterious illness that could affect up to 80% of COVID survivors - Published June 4, 2024
Long COVID is quite possibly the great enigma of our time.
Exactly what it is, when it appears, how long it lingers, how many patients it affects (from 10% to 80% of COVID survivors, depending on the study), and what just causes it—beyond the seemingly obvious—are debated, with new hypotheses floated daily.
As research into the vexing new condition expands, it seems that almost anything and everything could be a symptom—from ear numbness, a sensation of “brain on fire,” and erectile dysfunction to irregular menstrual periods, constipation, and peeling skin.
For those investigating the mysterious malady, that’s a real problem.
Recently scientists have attempted to categorize long COVID patients into subgroups, hypothesizing that the condition federal officials say could affect up to 23 million Americans isn’t one thing but many.
A picture is beginning to emerge of “groups of symptoms that have yet to be characterized well enough to call one or several diseases,” Justin Reese, a computational biologist with Berkeley Lab—a multiscience lab supported by the U.S. Department of Energy—told Fortune this week via email. Reese recently lead a study that used machine learning to classify Long COVID patients.
Another study released last month used artificial intelligence to classify tens of thousands of U.S. “long-haul” patients using their electronic health records. The main symptom sets found include patients primarily suffering from:
Blood and circulatory system issues like heart failure, arrhythmias, and chest pain.
Respiratory system issues like throat and chest pain, upper respiratory infections, asthma, and lower respiratory disease.
Musculoskeletal and nervous system issues like connective tissue disorders, osteoarthritis, and musculoskeletal pain.
Digestive system issues like abdominal and pelvic pain, nausea, vomiting, and disorders of the urinary system.
But theories abound. Dr. Alexandra Brugler Yonts, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., recently shared her own list of possible buckets with Fortune. They include patients who:
Have sustained long-term organ injury from COVID, such as lung damage.
Are suffering from inflammation resulting from COVID.
Have developed dysautonomia, which leads to changes in blood pressure and heart rate upon changes in position, like sitting or standing.
Have ongoing COVID viral activity.
Have immune systems that overcorrected in response to COVID and now under-respond to pathogens.
Categories may extend well beyond a handful, however, as symptoms have been identified in 10 of the 11 organ systems, according to a landmark study published in British medical journal The Lancet in July.
Here are 100 of the most common symptoms the study identified, by category:
Emotion and mood
Anxiety
Irritability
Depression
Tearfulness
Apathy
Sense of doom
Depersonalization
Anger
Impulsivity
Suicidality
Euphoria
Delusions
Sensorimotor
Dizziness
Pins and needles feeling
Tremors
Numbness
Noise sensitivity
Ringing in the ears
Feeling of brain pressure
Nerve pain
Sensation of brain “on fire”
Inability to yawn
Sleep
Insomnia
Awakened by feeling of inability to breathe
Vivid dreams
Nightmares
Restless leg syndrome
Sleep apnea
Cognitive functioning
Brain fog
Poor attention span
Difficulty thinking
Sudden confusion
Racing thoughts
Memory
Short-term memory loss
Long-term memory loss
Forgetting how to do routine tasks
Inability to make new memories
Headaches
Behind the eyes
All over
Temples only
Base of skull
After mental exhaustion
Migraines
Taste and smell
Loss of taste
Loss of smell
Altered taste
Altered smell
Heightened taste
Heightened smell
Phantom smells
Phantom taste
Speech and language
Difficulty finding the right words
Difficulty reading
Difficulty understanding speech
Difficulty speaking
Difficulty writing
Slurred speech
Speaking unrecognizable words
Hallucinations
Visual
Auditory
Tactile
Systemic
Chills, sweats
Elevated temperature
Fatigue
Low temperature
Pulmonary, respiratory
Breathing difficulties but normal oxygen saturation
Cough with mucus
Coughing up blood
Dry cough
Sinus issues
Rattling of breath
Shortness of breath
Sneezing
Reproductive, genitourinary, endocrine
Menstrual issues
Bladder control issues
Cardiovascular
Fainting
Heart palpitations
Burning in the chest
Bulging veins
Dermatologic
“COVID toe”
Peeling skin
Rashes
Gastrointestinal
Abdominal pain
Constipation
Diarrhea
Loss of appetite
Reflux
Nausea
Vomiting
Immunological, autoimmune
New allergies
New anaphylaxis reactions
Musculoskeletal
Bone aches
Joint pain
Muscle aches
Muscle spasms
Chest tightness
Head, ear, eye, nose, throat
Hearing loss
Runny nose
Sore throat
Vision symptoms
Long COVID is quite possibly the great enigma of our time.
Exactly what it is, when it appears, how long it lingers, how many patients it affects (from 10% to 80% of COVID survivors, depending on the study), and what just causes it—beyond the seemingly obvious—are debated, with new hypotheses floated daily.
As research into the vexing new condition expands, it seems that almost anything and everything could be a symptom—from ear numbness, a sensation of “brain on fire,” and erectile dysfunction to irregular menstrual periods, constipation, and peeling skin.
For those investigating the mysterious malady, that’s a real problem.
Recently scientists have attempted to categorize long COVID patients into subgroups, hypothesizing that the condition federal officials say could affect up to 23 million Americans isn’t one thing but many.
A picture is beginning to emerge of “groups of symptoms that have yet to be characterized well enough to call one or several diseases,” Justin Reese, a computational biologist with Berkeley Lab—a multiscience lab supported by the U.S. Department of Energy—told Fortune this week via email. Reese recently lead a study that used machine learning to classify Long COVID patients.
Another study released last month used artificial intelligence to classify tens of thousands of U.S. “long-haul” patients using their electronic health records. The main symptom sets found include patients primarily suffering from:
Blood and circulatory system issues like heart failure, arrhythmias, and chest pain.
Respiratory system issues like throat and chest pain, upper respiratory infections, asthma, and lower respiratory disease.
Musculoskeletal and nervous system issues like connective tissue disorders, osteoarthritis, and musculoskeletal pain.
Digestive system issues like abdominal and pelvic pain, nausea, vomiting, and disorders of the urinary system.
But theories abound. Dr. Alexandra Brugler Yonts, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., recently shared her own list of possible buckets with Fortune. They include patients who:
Have sustained long-term organ injury from COVID, such as lung damage.
Are suffering from inflammation resulting from COVID.
Have developed dysautonomia, which leads to changes in blood pressure and heart rate upon changes in position, like sitting or standing.
Have ongoing COVID viral activity.
Have immune systems that overcorrected in response to COVID and now under-respond to pathogens.
Categories may extend well beyond a handful, however, as symptoms have been identified in 10 of the 11 organ systems, according to a landmark study published in British medical journal The Lancet in July.
Here are 100 of the most common symptoms the study identified, by category:
Emotion and mood
Anxiety
Irritability
Depression
Tearfulness
Apathy
Sense of doom
Depersonalization
Anger
Impulsivity
Suicidality
Euphoria
Delusions
Sensorimotor
Dizziness
Pins and needles feeling
Tremors
Numbness
Noise sensitivity
Ringing in the ears
Feeling of brain pressure
Nerve pain
Sensation of brain “on fire”
Inability to yawn
Sleep
Insomnia
Awakened by feeling of inability to breathe
Vivid dreams
Nightmares
Restless leg syndrome
Sleep apnea
Cognitive functioning
Brain fog
Poor attention span
Difficulty thinking
Sudden confusion
Racing thoughts
Memory
Short-term memory loss
Long-term memory loss
Forgetting how to do routine tasks
Inability to make new memories
Headaches
Behind the eyes
All over
Temples only
Base of skull
After mental exhaustion
Migraines
Taste and smell
Loss of taste
Loss of smell
Altered taste
Altered smell
Heightened taste
Heightened smell
Phantom smells
Phantom taste
Speech and language
Difficulty finding the right words
Difficulty reading
Difficulty understanding speech
Difficulty speaking
Difficulty writing
Slurred speech
Speaking unrecognizable words
Hallucinations
Visual
Auditory
Tactile
Systemic
Chills, sweats
Elevated temperature
Fatigue
Low temperature
Pulmonary, respiratory
Breathing difficulties but normal oxygen saturation
Cough with mucus
Coughing up blood
Dry cough
Sinus issues
Rattling of breath
Shortness of breath
Sneezing
Reproductive, genitourinary, endocrine
Menstrual issues
Bladder control issues
Cardiovascular
Fainting
Heart palpitations
Burning in the chest
Bulging veins
Dermatologic
“COVID toe”
Peeling skin
Rashes
Gastrointestinal
Abdominal pain
Constipation
Diarrhea
Loss of appetite
Reflux
Nausea
Vomiting
Immunological, autoimmune
New allergies
New anaphylaxis reactions
Musculoskeletal
Bone aches
Joint pain
Muscle aches
Muscle spasms
Chest tightness
Head, ear, eye, nose, throat
Hearing loss
Runny nose
Sore throat
Vision symptoms