A research team has made an unexpected discovery indicating that those suffering from long-term effects of "COVID-19" are prone to developing only seven specific unhealthy symptoms up to a year after infection. The study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri, and published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, identifies these symptoms as: rapid heartbeats, hair loss, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, joint pain, and obesity.
To develop their findings, the team reviewed real-world Oracle Cerner data from electronic medical records containing de-identified information for medical research purposes. After examining data from a total of 52,461 patients across 122 healthcare facilities in the United States, the researchers selected the 47 most commonly reported health symptoms related to "COVID-19" for investigation in this study.
The researchers then looked for any comparisons in reported symptoms among patients in three different subgroups:
- Those diagnosed with "COVID-19" but without any common viral respiratory infections such as influenza or pneumonia.
- Those with common viral respiratory infections but without "COVID-19".
- Those without "COVID-19" or any other common viral respiratory infections.
Chih-Ren Shou, the director of the Data Science and Informatics Center at the University of Missouri and co-author of the study, stated: "Despite the vast number of long COVID symptoms reported by other studies, we found only a few symptoms specifically related to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Before we examined the data, I thought we would find a considerable amount of symptoms specifically associated with long COVID, but that was not the case."
Shou explained that these findings could aid ongoing efforts by fellow researchers to study the various effects of "COVID-19." He added, "Now, researchers will be able to better understand how SARS-CoV-2 mutates or develops by establishing new links we may not have known about before. From now on, we can use electronic medical records to quickly identify subgroups of patients who may experience these long-term health conditions."
Adnan Qureshi, a professor of neurology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and a neurologist at MU Health Care, and co-author of the study, noted that the results would provide healthcare providers with much-needed information regarding what to inquire about and search for, and when. Qureshi remarked that the study findings could also assist researchers in examining other aspects of "COVID-19," such as the virus's impact on the brain or the immune system.
