A researcher studying Covid’s so-called long-haulers has warned that persistent symptoms are a gloomy reality and can pose a serious problem.
“We are tracking about 60 distinct symptoms in this patient population,” said David Putrino, Director of Innovation in Rehabilitation at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. “We really just need to focus on helping these patients and spread awareness that this is, in fact, a very serious problem associated with Covid.”
A new study by Northwestern University shows that 85% of long-haulers – Covid patients who have largely recovered from the worst of the disease, but continue to experience long-term symptoms – have experienced four or more neurological symptoms. These symptoms include brain fog, headaches, numbness or tingling, loss of taste and smell and muscle pain.
Northwestern scientists call it the first study of its kind. Tracked 100 Covid patients, mainly women with an average age of 43 years.
Putrino told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the prevalence of long Covid is changing the way doctors treat patients, even for routine complaints.
“I think before Covid, there were a lot of people showing up with nonspecific symptoms and they were concerned that they were being treated with medicinal formulas, rather than being too patient and symptom-centered in treatment approaches,” said Putrino. “One of the things that doctors need to do now, as we see this increase in Covid’s long distance activity, is to listen to what patients are saying to them.”