PROLONGED COVID SYMPTOMS (‘LONG COVID’) AFFECTING BRAIN AND OTHER FUNCTIONS. In a recent German study, at 12 months after onset of Covid symptoms, only 22.9% of people were completely free of symptoms. [because of ‘selection bias’ in the study – see below* – the percentage of people without long covid symptoms at 12 months is likely to be less than 22.9%] Most frequently reported symptoms were: reduced exercise capacity (56.3%), fatigue (53.1%), breathlessness (37.5%), concentration problems (26.0%), problems finding words (32.3%), and sleeping problems (26.0%).
More women than men reported symptoms. People aged under 60 yrs reported breathlessness, sleeping problems and concentration problems significantly more often than the over sixties.
Generally these symptoms appeared to affect people in similar numbers whether they had severe or mild disease.
The research found the frequency of neurocognitive symptoms (reduced concentration, word finding difficulties) was higher in the group with higher ‘ANA titres’. High ANA titres suggest a possible autoimmune mechanism in producing the symptoms. However the researchers cautioned that it was too early to speculate about the cause of these symptoms and too early to make predictions about the future course (prognosis) of these symptoms.
https://academic.oup.com/…/doi/10.1093/cid/ciab611/6315216
* ‘Selection bias’: In the study, people were followed up 5 months and 12 months after Covid infection. 50 of the 146 people followed up at five months didn’t attend for the 12 month follow-up. They may have not followed up because they were symptom free. In this group of 50, at five months, a lower percentage of them had reduced exercise frequency than did the group which continued to 12 months.