Some patients recover shortly after getting the coronavirus, but others have symptoms that last for months and months. The Doctors share what we can learn about COVID-19 long-haulers.
Watch: What We Can Learn from COVID Long Haulers
Long-haulers of the virus appear to never fully recuperate and some have been dealing with the effects of the virus for up to 6 months. Long-haulers are made of all types of patients (young, old, at-risk, and even people without pre-existing conditions) and they exhibit both mild and severe symptoms.
Diana, who as diagnosed in March with COVID-19, still has symptoms like headaches, gastrointestinal issues, inner ear pain and was recently diagnosed with glaucoma, which she has been told is likely do to COVID. Despite her ongoing health issues, she considers herself lucky as her symptoms had been much milder than other long-haulers.
To help other long-haulers, she started the group Survivor Corps, which the group says is a "grassroots movements connecting, supporting, educating, motivating and mobilizing COVID-19 Survivors to support all medical, scientific and academic research, help stem the tide of this pandemic and assist in the national recovery."
The group urges COVID patients to donate their plasma for research. "Inside the arm of every COVID-19 survivor is the antibodies that will lead us to a cure," Diana tells Dr. Ian Smith. "So many mysteries of this virus lie in our bodies."
Physician Dr. William Li says the medical community is only now beginning to understand these long-hauler issues and stresses they need to be taken seriously. He explains it is still known to know which group of patients are most at-risk of becoming a long-hauler.
Some symptoms Dr. Li sees in long-haulers include:
- Brain fog
- Memory problems
- Extreme muscle weakness
- Heart racing
- Hair loss
- Odd rashes
Watch: How to Say Goodbye to Loved Ones Who Died from COVID
The Doctors speak with another long-hauler, Andrea who shares her symptoms have lasted for over 150 days. Find out what Dr. Li suggests she can do to help herself with these lasting and troubling effects of the virus, in the video below.
