The long-term illnesses Covid can leave you battling – from diabetes to brain disorders
MANY Covid patients have been left with long-term illnesses after contracting the virus.
Studies show that some survivors have been left with conditions such as diabetes and brain disorders after testing positive for Covid.
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A study that found eight in ten people who have had the coronavirus still battle at least one long-term side effect lasting more than two weeks.
Other scientists have said there could be 170 crippling symptoms, including rashes, brain fog, stabbing heart pains and depression.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran previously stated that in the UK it is estimated that around 400,000 people are suffering from long-Covid.
But this figure could be much higher as these stats come from ONS data based solely on people who have tested positive for Covid-19 and do not include cases where the virus had not been detected - in scenarios where a patient may have been asymptomatic.
Experts have now investigated the various health conditions you could be left with if you contract Covid-19.
DIABETES
One expert based at King's College London said there is a link between type 1 diabetes and Covid-19.
Professor Francesco Rubino said a team at Imperial College London decided to explore the link after trends in China and Italy pointed to a surge in diabetes diagnosis which coincided with Covid infection rates.
Speaking to the he said: "We started to become very concerned about diabetes within the first couple of months of the pandemic, when we began to get reports from around the world of an increase in cases among hospitalised Covid patients.
"These were patients in whom diabetes suddenly developed at the same time as they were sick with Covid."
The team at Imperial College London also analysed hospital data from five hospitals across North-West London during the peak of Covid-19 in April 2020 and found that there were double the amount of children being diagnosed with diabetes.
Around 70 per cent of the children tested had already ran out of insulin - a condition know as diabetic ketoacidosis which can be life threatening.
Dr Runio added that this was something that was being seen more and more in people who had Covid-19.
MS (multiple sclerosis)
One US study found that a 28-year-old man had been diagnosed with MS just days after contracting Covid-19.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota said that Covid could trigger MS even at the "acute stages of infection".
This means that the patient in question would have been suffering from a severe case of Covid-19 when diagnosed.
The authors did however highlight that they couldn't be certain that the virus was to blame in this instance.
MS is an autoimmune condition. This means that the body's immune system (designed to fight any infection or foreign body in your system) mistakes an area of the body for a threat and attacks it.
Other reports also found that Covid can trigger a host of auto immune disorders.
These include skin conditions such as severe psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Many people who contract Covid have experienced skin conditions and experts think that this is because of the inflammation that occurs once you catch the virus.
The findings show that when a person is infected with Covid - it doesn't just take aim at the lungs and attacks cells elsewhere in the body.
What is long Covid?
HUNDREDS of thousands of people recovering from the coronavirus have been struck down with debilitating symptoms.
Those suffering have dubbed the condition "long-Covid", with many reporting symptoms of chronic fatigue and cognitive problems.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) of MPs on the coronavirus previously claimed there were 16 symptoms that people with long-Covid suffer with.
These are:
- Hair loss
- High temperature
- Diarrhoea
- Exhaustion
- Chest pain
- Insomnia
- Hallucinations
- Covid toes
- Chills
- Disorientation
- Cognitive problems
- Breathing issues
- Muscle or body aches
- A heart rate of more than 100 beats a minute (Tachycardia)
- Vomiting
- Issues with your heart rate or its rhythm (Arrhythmia)
BRAIN
Various studies show that many patients are left with confusion and delirium after contracting Covid-19.
In December it was revealed that patients who have survived the virus are now battling with hallucinations and delusional thinking just weeks after overcoming the deadly bug.
One doctor in New York said one of his patients kept seeing her young children being brutally murdered.
Other patients said they lived in fear that their children were going to be kidnapped or harmed, while another said he had tried to strangle his cousin in his bed after he believed he was involved in a plot to kill him.
Dr Hisam Goueli, a psychiatrist, treated a 42-year-old mum of four who had no previous history of mental illness.
At first he said he was unsure as to whether or not the symptoms were linked to the coronavirus.
He said a second, third and fourth patient then came in to the Amityville surgery - all with the same medical histories in that they had no previously issues with their mental health but had all overcome Covid-19.
HEART DAMAGE
Doctors battling the Covid-19 pandemic have previously warned that the respiratory infection is a "multi-organ killer".
Studies have revealed the extent of the damage the virus can have on the heart.
Research from Germany found that 78 per cent of patients who have recovered from Covid were left with structural changes to the vital organ.
While, 76 out of the 100 survivors studied showed similar signs of damage that a heart attack can have.
Meanwhile, a separate study - also carried out in Germany - found that high levels of the virus in the hearts of more than half of patients who died from Covid.
Experts say it's not yet clear how long the damage might last or whether it could increase the risk of heart attack, stroke or other cardiac issues.
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However, it could explain why some survivors have been left weak and fatigued long after recovering from the virus itself.
Experts have now warned that more needs to be done to help those suffering with long Covid.
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Danny Altmann, professor of immunology at Imperial College London previously told MPs Britain probably has more than 300,000 cases of long Covid.
He said it is a case of "Russian roulette" because people do not know whether they are going to be one of the people who is better in two weeks or one of the people who is going to be on crutches or in a wheelchair "for months or years or forever".