Here are 12 most common long COVID symptoms found in a new study
A new federal study identifies the 12 symptoms that most distinctly characterize long COVID but falls short of explaining why approximately 10% of individuals who experience even a mild COVID-19 infection suffer from health issues that can persist for months or even years.
The National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER program analyzed nearly 10,000 participants and identified the dozen most frequently reported ailments out of approximately 200 previously recognized symptoms of long COVID. The 12 conditions range from brain fog and heart palpitations to sexual impotence and digestive disorders.
Despite these findings, scientists still don’t know what causes long COVID, why it only affects some people, or even how to treat and diagnose it.
The team behind the study said that while the investigation is inconclusive, it provides scientists a “common language” for beginning work toward treatments.
“Now that we’re able to identify people with long COVID, we can begin doing more in-depth studies to understand the biological mechanisms at play,” co-author Andrea Foulkes, a professor at Harvard Medical School, said in a press release. “One of the big takeaways from this study is the heterogeneity of long COVID: long COVID is not just one syndrome; it’s a syndrome of syndromes.”
The 12 key symptoms identified in the study were:
Loss of smell or taste
Post-exertional malaise
Chronic cough
Brain fog
Thirst
Palpitations
Chest pain
Fatigue
Dizziness
Gastrointestinal issues
Issues with sexual desire or capacity
Abnormal movements, such as tremors, unintended movements, or rigidity
But those are not the only symptoms that define long COVID, the researchers said. Patients may have one of those symptoms, or many — or others not on the list — and suffer long-term consequences of the coronavirus.
“Sometimes I hear people say, ‘Oh, everybody’s a little tired,’ ” Dr. Leora Horwitz, co-principal investigator for the RECOVER Clinical Science Core at NYU Langone Health, said in the release. “No, there’s something different about people who have long COVID, and that’s important to know.”
The new research, published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved more than 8,600 adults who had COVID-19 at different stages of the pandemic, compared to 1,100 who were not infected.
The team identified 37 common symptoms that persisted after six months in COVID-19 patients compared to those not infected by the virus. Of that number, the 12 in the study were the most frequently reported. About 20% of the people who had COVID met the criteria for suffering from long COVID — also known as Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, or PASC — at the six-month mark.
“Americans living with long COVID want to understand what is happening with their bodies,” Dr. Rachel L. Levine, assistant secretary for health, said in the release.
More than 100 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The study found that persistent health issues were more commonly reported among individuals infected before the omicron variant emerged in December 2021. Rates of long COVID were also higher among the unvaccinated and those who experienced reinfection.
Encouragingly, the risk of long COVID appears to be decreasing. The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Household Pulse Survey,” conducted through a monthly online questionnaire since April 2020, indicated that as of May 8, 10% of adults previously infected with COVID-19 reported long COVID symptoms, down from 18.9% in June of the previous year.
According to the new research, this proportion drops to approximately 6% after six months.
“This study is an important step toward defining long COVID beyond any one individual symptom,” said Horwitz. “This approach — which may evolve over time — will serve as a foundation for scientific discovery and treatment design.”
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
