The National Institutes of Health will be conducting a new study to determine why people have COVID-19 symptoms for such a long time, according to NBC News.
What’s going on?
The study — which is a part of a four-year initiative on the matter — will look at why COVID-19 survivors suffer symptoms even after infection, according to NBC News.
- “We believe that the insight we gain from this research will also enhance our knowledge of the basic biology of how humans recover from infection and improve our understanding of other chronic post-viral syndromes and autoimmune diseases,” NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said in a statement Tuesday, according to NBC News.
Bigger picture
Currently, there are patients — known as “long-haulers” — who experience COVID-19 symptoms after the virus has left their systems.
- Long-haul symptoms often include exhaustion, shortness of breath, headaches, fast heart beats, changes in taste and smell and brain fog, among other symptoms, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
- Per a new study from the University of Washington, the most common long-term symptom was fatigue, which was reported by 13.6% of participants.
- Loss of smell and taste was also reported by 13.6%.
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Ryan Hurt, the lead researcher at the Mayo Clinic on post-COVID-19 syndrome, told The Lily that he has seen more long-term COVID-19 symptoms among women.
- Per The Lily; “Aside from biology, there may be deep sociological or cultural underpinnings accounting for the split — simply that women may be more willing to seek medical attention and speak openly about symptoms, especially those affiliated with mood and cognitive issues.”