70% of COVID long haulers have impaired organs up to 4 months after infection, study finds
Utah long haulers are sharing some alarming new research on the impact COVID-19 has on vital organs. (Photo: KUTV)
(KUTV) — Utah long haulers are sharing some alarming new research on the impact COVID-19 has on vital organs.
Even after most of them are considered "recovered," critical body parts are impaired for months.
Right now, there's not an exact number of how many long-haulers live in Utah. But, one of the most popular social media groups has over 3,000 members and grows larger with each passing week.
Long COVID affects 10 to 30% of people who have a symptomatic infection with Sars-CoV-2 and is defined as symptomatic disease lasting longer than 12 weeks, according to Perspectum.
For some, problems persist for months and it turns out a lot more fit into that category than expected.
According to new research shared by the medical journal "BMJ Open," one or more organs are impaired for up to four months in 70% of long haulers.
This exacerbates issues like chronic fatigue, the inability to catch your breath and brain fog. That's on top of dozens of other reported symptoms long haulers face every single day.
“Early in the pandemic, research and clinical practice focused on pulmonary effects of COVID-19, but as we scanned patients using Perspectum’s quantitative MRI, we found evidence of multiorgan impairment,” says Dr. Amitava Banerjee, Associate Professor in Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, University College London, told Perspectum.
Because our research demonstrated physiological effects in a majority of patients, we believe major organ systems must be assessed in all patients recovering from COVID-19 — to help define long COVID, determine its aftereffects and develop multidisciplinary care pathways.
Utah long haulers are no encouraging everyone to participating in a research event in coordination with Vanderbilt University that's being held Tuesday morning.
