According to a recent report, studies have found that long COVID is associated with a significantly increased risk of death, as well as problems with the heart and lungs. STATEN ISLAND, New York — Studies have found that long COVID is associated with a significantly increased risk of problems with the heart and lungs.
According to CNN.com, a study that was recently published in JAMA Health Forum demonstrates that many Americans continue to feel the long-term effects of the disease despite the fact that the health emergency caused by the coronavirus (COVD-19) is coming to an end.
During a 12-month follow-up, the study looked at insurance claim information for 13,435 adults with long COVID and 26,870 adults without COVID. CNN reported that the study showed that the long COVID group died at a higher rate than the non-long COVID group, with 2.8% of those with long COVID dying compared to 1.2% of those without long COVID.
According to Dr. Andrea DeVries, lead author of the study and staff vice president for health services research at Elevance Health, prolonged COVID can cause a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, headaches, and attention disorder.
CNN reports that the study demonstrated that people with long COVID also had a roughly twofold increased risk of cardiovascular events such as arrhythmias, stroke, heart failure, and coronary artery disease. The media outlet stated when reporting on the findings of the study that the risk of pulmonary embolism more than tripled, and the risk of COPD and moderate or severe asthma nearly doubled for those with long COVID.
DeVries stated to CNN that the findings of this study “point to even more worrisome outcomes that can severely impact quality and length of life for individuals with long Covid,” despite the fact that “those conditions are concerning.”
Long COVID is defined as having “new, returning, or ongoing health issues more than four weeks after the onset of initial infection” by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the most recent study, long-term COVID symptoms and conditions can last anywhere from months to years.
Dr. Mark Czeisler, the author of a related editorial that was published in JAMA Health Forum, stated to CNN, “We can only measure out as far as the pandemic has been occurring, but early evidence suggests that a large portion of people who experienced post-Covid condition are doing so more than two years after their initial infection, which is basically as long as it could be.”
