ST. LOUIS – A new study shows COVID-19 survivors have long-term health issues even with mild cases of the disease.
Researchers at Washington University started looking at the long-term ramifications of the virus more than a year ago. They discovered patients have a hard time fully recovering from COVID because of the way the disease attacks the body.
“We came to the conclusion that long COVID can affect nearly every organ in the body. Wherever we looked, brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, the pancreas. Where ever we looked there was evidence of damage,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Al-Aly says it is not clear why COVID wreaks havoc on so many organs and impacts survivors weeks, even a year later. He also made it clear it is unlikely for one person to have every organ in their body affected by the disease.