How Post Covid Complications May Affect Multiple Organs

This pandemic has affected everyone's health and lifestyle. A lot of us must have experienced the same. Most of us or our loved one’s were infected by COVID-19 and developed severe symptoms, then we must be familiar with the post covid complications. It affects multiple organs of our body and also our mental health. Here are few questions which you should ask yourself to keep a check on your health.

Are you taking all the precautions to prevent COVID 19 infection?

Have you been infected from COVID 19 earlier?

How severe was your infection?

Do you still face post covid effects even after the recovery?

How's your mental health?

The novel coronavirus has infected millions of people worldwide. Its mutant variants are increasing the problems of doctors. Earlier, the symptoms of COVID-19 virus infection were fever, cold, cough, and breathing problems. But as the virus is changing its structure, new signs and symptoms are visible like throat pain, stomach pain, vomiting, headache.

Even after the recovery, it can have long-term effects on your body. As the second wave passed, many recovered individuals are facing post covid symptoms.

How does coronavirus attack your body?

The virus enters through your eyes, nose, or mouth. It has spikes on its surface. With the help of these spikes, the virus attaches to the healthy cells and infects the cell. The infected cell then produces more copies of the virus. 

The virus affects different organs by acting on the ACE-2 receptors (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 receptors) present in all the vital organs. It damages your lungs first, followed by your heart, then liver, kidney, brain, and others.

Effects on different organs during the infection

COVID-19 spares no vital organs of your body. It affects multiple organs during the infection and also has long term effects on these organs:

1. LUNGS 

Your lungs are the first organs to be affected by COVID-19. As the virus enters through your nose or mouth, it reaches your throat and the lungs. It causes cough, throat pain, and breathing difficulty. It causes pneumonia in most cases where it has long-standing damage to the alveoli (tiny air sacs in the lungs).

2. BLOOD VESSELS

COVID-19 can make your blood cells more prone to come together and form clots. 

Larger clots can cause severe problems like heart attacks and strokes. Smaller clots are even more damaging. These clots can block your capillaries (narrowest blood vessels) and can cause thrombosis.

These tiny clots can lead to critical problems like:

• Deep vein thrombosis
• Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
• Pulmonary embolism
• Blood vessels narrowing

Suppose the blood vessel which supplies to a vital organ of your body has constricted, that organ gets a lesser blood supply and its cells start dying.

Some other effects it has on your blood vessel are endotheliitis, vasculitis. It weakens the vessel wall and increases leaks that cause fluid accumulation in different parts of your body (oedema).

3. HEART

Even after months of recovery from COVID-19, lasting damage to the cardiac muscle can also occur. It happened even in people who had only mild COVID-19 symptoms.

If you got infected from COVID-19, then the chances of heart disease in the future increase. If you have a previous history of any heart ailments, then you are at higher risk.

Congestive heart failure, Arrhythmias, Myocarditis, Acute coronary syndrome, Myocardial Infarction are some of the complications that can occur in the long term.

4. KIDNEY

Kidney problems arise when the blood supply of your kidneys reduces. Acute kidney injury can take place. Chronic kidney disease can also happen in the long run.

5. BRAIN

The virus affecting your central and peripheral nervous system is very damaging. It can increase the risk of strokes, seizures, and Guillain-Barre syndrome - a condition that causes temporary paralysis. 

It may cause reduced reflexes in the brainstem that maintains the oxygen level in your blood. It also causes dizziness, headache.

It may be associated with the danger of developing Parkinsonism and Alzheimer's disease in the long term. These conditions can affect your whole body and reduce your thinking ability, memory, and your bodily movements.

In rare cases, it may cause Meningitis and Encephalitis.

6. EYES

The virus can affect your eyes also. In one-third of the patients of COVID-19, conjunctivitis occurs. The eyes become red and swollen.

7. GUT

Your gut, through which your food passes and gets absorbed, may get affected. You will feel a loss of appetite, nausea, and abdominal pain. Vomiting and Diarrhoea are also common.

8. SKIN

When your body gets infected by any virus, some common skin problems can also occur. These are- acne, eczema, rashes, purplish discoloration due to clot formation.

9. BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS

Suppose you have suffered from severe symptoms of COVID 19 and treated in a hospital's medical care unit, with ventilators to breathe. Then, simply surviving this experience can make you vulnerable to develop post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, and anxiety after the recovery. 

People who were severely infected from COVID 19 experience inattention, disorientation, poorly organized movements, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress syndrome even after the recovery.

Many people who have recovered from SARS CoV-2 have developed chronic fatigue syndrome. It is a disorder in which you will experience extreme fatigue that worsens with any physical or mental activity. The fatigue doesn't improve with rest. 

Post Covid Complications

It's difficult to predict long-term effects from the new COVID-19 virus. Scientists are watching it, in case of related viral infections. All the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are related to COVID-19.

Some common signs and symptoms that persist for a long term post covid recovery are:

• Fatigue

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Cough 

• Joint pain

• Chest pain

• Memory loss

• Concentration or sleep problems

• Muscle pain

• Headache 

• Fast or pounding heartbeat

• Loss of smell or taste

• Depression or anxiety

• Fever after covid recovery

• Dizziness once you stand

• Worsened symptoms after physical or mental activities

Multi-inflammatory syndrome or (MIS-C)  is another long term complication associated with Covid19

Multi-inflammatory syndrome or MIS is a condition in which some organs and tissues of your body become severely inflamed. 

Inflammation of any organ or tissue causes swelling of that organ/tissue. It also causes fever and fluid accumulation. Some chemicals released from these affected organs/tissue are called cytokines. Inflammation of many organs causes the release of cytokines in large amounts in the blood. It is called a cytokine storm. 

Cytokines damage your other healthy organs. It leads to ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). It can also cause some organ failure and ultimately leads to death.

MIS has occurred in children in most cases. Doctors believed earlier that it only affects children. But MIS can also happen in adults. The condition in adults is called MIS-A. 

None of the doctors or investigations have been able to answer on how long does it take to recover from coronavirus

You should recollect that the majority of people that have COVID-19 do not recover quickly. To prevent post covid complications, please follow all the precautions. It includes wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding crowds, getting a vaccine when available, and keeping hands clean.