Brain Fog and Other
Long COVID Symptoms , Can Last Up to a Year, , New Study Finds.
The study was published May 24 in the journal
'Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.'.
It followed 100 patients with long-term COVID, three-quarters of whom were female with an average age of 43.
The study found that the neurological effects of long COVID lasted for 15 months on average.
A lot of those patients still have difficulties with their cognition that prevent them from working like they used to, Dr. Igor Koralnik, Study Co-Leader, via NBC News.
The next step for this is finding out what causes long Covid in the first place and why some people get it and others don’t, Dr. Igor Koralnik, Study Co-Leader, via NBC News.
Researchers not involved with the study say its possible that the inflammation caused by significant illness may contribute to the neurological effects.
Covid is probably the most severe respiratory illness we have ever had, so it’s no surprise that we are seeing long-term effects from it, Dr. Avindra Nath, National Institutes of Health, Study Co-Leader, via NBC News.
Other experts say that the long-term effects of long COVID are extraordinary, and that more studies to isolate them are necessary.
Healing shouldn’t last
six months or more, Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, Johns Hopkins Medicine, via NBC News.
Right now we need time to distinguish between the two groups. Patients have to just wait, and that’s really frustrating, Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, Johns Hopkins Medicine, via NBC News.
But if we had biomarkers to test, we could identify long Covid and intervene early, Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, Johns Hopkins Medicine, via NBC News.
Biomarkers of long COVID have proved elusive, despite other studies that have sought to identify them.
Despite a thorough investigation, we could not demonstrate any evidence of organ damage [or other possible biomarkers], Dr. Michael Sneller, National Institutes of Health, via NBC News.
Make no mistake, these people are really suffering. We’re not giving up, Dr. Michael Sneller, National Institutes of Health, via NBC News