By Lucine Avanesian
COVID-19 can lead to serious diseases that can take weeks to overcome.
But some patients have symptoms that persist even after the initial infection has survived.
Researchers Are learning about the long-term consequences, six months after the condition was first reported. We now realize that cardiac failure, brain complications that involve stroke, and lung damage may be caused by the disease.
Recently, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, informed us about another potentially crippling infection effect: post-viral syndrome.
"Brain fog, fatigue, and concentration difficulties," said Dr. Fauci at the International AIDS Conference. "So this is something we really need to take a serious look at because it could very well be a COVID-19 related post-viral syndrome."
It’s important to remember that SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus) isn’t the first virus to cause lasting symptoms, says Greg Vanichkachorn, M.D., medical director of Mayo Clinic’s COVID Activity Rehabilitation Program. “Previous viral outbreaks, like SARS and MERS, left some people debilitated for months—sometimes years,” he says. “The virus isn’t still alive and active in people with ongoing symptoms, but it triggers a response in the body that causes persistent symptoms both mentally and physically.”
Treatment for Post-Viral Syndrome
Dr. Minh Nghi, the internist at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth and Texas Health Doctors Association, said, "Care centers on reassurance, self-care, and symptomatic control. With sleep hygiene measures, sleep disturbances are addressed: turn off lights in the bedroom at night, no TV in bed, try not to be very active in bed, like trying to read a tablet," Nghi specified. "Sleep medications are sometimes used to help with sleep or even low-dose antidepressants." He added that meditation and yoga may also be helpful.
Nghi said that pain symptoms are treated, but treatments such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are also debated.
Sources
Graves, Ginny. “Post-COVID Syndrome Causes Debilitating Symptoms in Long-Haulers. Doctors Are Still Looking for Answers.” Prevention, 12 Feb. 2021, www.prevention.com/health/a35218558/what-is-post-covid-syndrome/.
“COVID-19 (Coronavirus): Long-Term Effects.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 17 Nov. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351#:~:text=Older%20people%20and%20people%20with,Cough.
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