7 most common long COVID symptoms
For most people, a bout with COVID can be an uncomfortable but thankfully brief episode. For others, however, the symptoms and other health problems can exist for much longer in something dubbed “long COVID.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, post-COVID conditions can include a wide range of ongoing health problems that can last for weeks, months or years. Post-COVID symptoms are more often seen in those with severe COVID illnesses but anyone who has been infected with the virus can experience the lingeringsymptoms.
What are long-term COVID symptoms?
Researchers continue to study those with long COVID to determine its causes.
A group of researchers at Cerner Real-World Data are using Cerner Real-World Data, a database containing information extracted from the electronic medical records from 122 health systems in the U.S. According to TODAY, the research includes electronic health records of more than 17,000 patients diagnosed with COVID between April 14, 2022, as well as equal amounts diagnosed with respiratory viruses and people who sought health care but had no virus diagnosis.
It showed the seven most common long COVID symptoms included:
- Heart palpitations (fast beating, fluttering or pounding)
- Hair loss
- Fatigue
- Chest pain
- Dyspnea (difficulty breathing)
- Joint pain
- Obesity in the postinfectious period
Other common symptoms include:
- Brain fog
- Disabling fatigue
- Dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which controls subconscious bodily functions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure