Coronavirus cause more damage to health than scientists intialky thought

Coronavirus can damage liver, heart, brain, pancreas and kidneys

According to the doctors and infectious disease experts, Coronavirus can damage other organs of human body including heart, kidneys and liver. Scientists and health experts initially thought that coronavirus only cause respiratory problems. Scientists now believe that COVID-19 can cause vast array of health problems, some of which may have lingering effects on patients and health systems for years to come.

Besides the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, the virus that causes Covid-19 attacks many organ systems, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.

Dr Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California explains that “We thought this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didn’t appreciate that in the beginning.”

In addition to respiratory distress, patients with Covid-19 can experience blood clotting disorders that can lead to strokes, and extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems. The virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion.

Dr Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago told the media that “recovery can be slow, incomplete and costly, with a huge impact on quality of life. The broad and diverse manifestations of Covid-19 are somewhat unique. With influenza, people with underlying heart conditions are also at higher risk of complications. What is surprising about this virus is the extent of the complications occurring outside the lungs.”

Dr Sadiya Khan also believes that there will be a huge healthcare expenditure and burden for individuals who have survived Covid-19. Patients who were in the intensive care unit or on a ventilator for weeks will need to spend extensive time in rehab to regain mobility and strength.

While much of the focus has been on the minority of patients who experience severe disease, doctors increasingly are looking to the needs of patients who were not sick enough to require hospitalization, but are still suffering months after first becoming infected.

Studies are just getting underway to understand the long-term effects of infection, Jay Butler, deputy director of infectious diseases at the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a telephone briefing on Thursday. “We hear anecdotal reports of people who have persistent fatigue, shortness of breath,” Butler said. “How long that will last is hard to say.”

While coronavirus symptoms typically resolve in two or three weeks, an estimated 1 in 10 experience prolonged symptoms, Dr Helen Salisbury of the University of Oxford wrote in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday. Salisbury said many of her patients have normal chest X-rays and no sign of inflammation, but they are still not back to normal.

Dr Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine, reviewed current scientific literature and found about half of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 had neurological complications, such as dizziness, decreased alertness, difficulty concentrating, disorders of smell and taste, seizures, strokes, weakness and muscle pain.

                                                                                  News Desk