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The new study shows that coronavirus victims that are still feeling symptoms and side effects up to seven months after infection could actually be experiencing a mixture of post-viral fatigue syndrome, post-intensive care syndrome, permanent organ damage as well as long-termCOVID syndrome.
The study that was carried out by the National Institute for Health Research warned that up to 60,000 people in the UK may be living with the prolonged version of the dreaded virus.
Symptoms of long COVID include breathlessness, chronic fatigue, brain fog, permanent organ damage as well as anxiety and stress. The study also concluded that children are also susceptible to long COVID and can’t guarantee that people who are less vulnerable to the disease won’t also experience prolonged symptoms.
Author of the review, Dr Eslaine Maxwell states that long COVID victims can often suffer from a ‘rollercoaster of symptoms’ that ‘move around the body’. She stated:
The list of symptoms is huge and covers every part of the body and brain. We believe that the term 'long COVID' is being used as a capsule for more than one syndrome, possibly up to four.
She went on to add that often patients claim that health workers often don’t believe them:
People without a clear diagnosis told us they're often not believed by health services. There are people who never had any support in hospital, never had a test, have no record of ever having had COVID, except their own personal history. They may be suffering far more than somebody who's ventilated for 21 days.
Maxwell also warned that the longer the virus goes on, the more people will contract long-COVID.
Another study published in the British Journal of General Practice found that many people diagnosed withcoronavirus were still suffering months after their diagnosis. One 34-year-old woman who took part in the study claimed that she often had to sit down for 15-20 minutes between completing small chores. She said:
I have to do a chore, sit down for 15, 20 minutes and then do the next, which frustrates me. It's like peeling potatoes, I can't peel the carrots straight afterwards.
The British Heart Foundation has also warned that there have been 800 excess deaths from heart and circulatory issues in Wales and England since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK.
That means that there have been at least 800 more deaths from heart and circulatory problems than in the previous five years.
The charity is urging anyone with symptoms of long COVID to get themselves checked out are also urging hospitals to prioritise anyone with heart problems while the second wave hits.
