As the U.S. continues to grapple with the sustained difficulties of reality in the coronavirus era, one facet of the COVID-19 pandemic that still remains fairly under-discussed is the fact that some have experienced what's often referred to as "long COVID."
Britain's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) addressed its new report focused on "long-term COVID-19" on Thursday, with Dr. Elaine Maxwell stating that the findings from the effort show that those struggling with this unique virus experience are seeing "detrimental physical and psychological impact."
The review, dubbed "Living With COVID," pulls from the most up-to-date consensus from experts and the published evidence, coupling that wealth of material with the lived experience of COVID-19 patients.
Among the key findings here are that ongoing COVID (i.e. "long COVID") could consist of possibly as many as four different syndromes, with symptoms often arising in one physiological system before abating and arising in a different system. Such symptoms, the report adds, have been experienced and documented by people of all ages and backgrounds.
"We cannot assume that groups who are at low risk of life threatening disease and death during acute infections are also at low risk of ongoing COVID," the researchers said.
The report, which has since received added boost from Reuters and others, is the latest effort by medical experts who are commendably trying to bring both awareness of and knowledge to COVID-19 patients who haven't experienced a cut-and-dry experience of being well, then sick, then well again.
"While research is at an early stage, listening to the testimony of people living with the ongoing effects of COVID-19 provides rich insights into where we should focus future research, as well as the services we should be commissioning now," Dr. Maxwell, an author of the review and the content lead for NIHR's Center for Engagement and Dissemination, added.
NIHR says this report is intended to be the first in a number of actions that it hopes will help build up a collection of evidence-based discoveries in the emerging field of "long COVID" sufferers.
