CINCINNATI (WKRC) - One year out, a new study shows the lasting impact of COVID-19 can lead to crushing fatigue and severe headaches.
Even if you had a mild case or no symptoms at all from COVID, this research shows you may still end up with fatigue, headaches or even depression for months. This is because it appears the coronavirus itself has the unique ability to alter something inside the brain.
New data shows COVID patients do have shrinkage in specific parts of the brain that are often responsible for a lot of those symptoms, according to Dr. Elizabeth Rutkowski a neurologist with the Medical College of Georgia.
Dr. Rutkowski was one of the lead researchers in this new study. She says the symptoms she followed in more than 200 patients with COVID show:
"It's definitely doing something physically to the brain, and it's not just a whole bunch of patients that are stuck in a pandemic and locked up at home and feeling depressed and kind of foggy," said Dr. Rutkowski.
These symptoms appear to be able to hit anyone who's had the virus.
"I got on Paxlovid because the last thing I would want would be long COVID," said family medicine specialist Dr. Scott Woods on when he recently became infected.
While we don't know yet if newer treatments such as Paxlovid will ease long COVID symptoms, Dr. Rutkowski's study showed 80% of the first 200 participants reported neurological symptoms.
Fatigue was most common (68.5%), followed by headache (66.5%). Just over half reported changes in smell (54.5%) and taste (54%), and nearly half the participants (47%) met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment.
What's more is Dr. Rutkowski says a lot of these patients are having disabling headaches every day and almost every second of being awake.
"There does seem to be evidence that vaccination does help reduce your chances of long COVID symptoms, as well as repeated infections do seem to increase your chances of long COVID," she said.
One big suggestion: Get back into your routine slowly as you address each symptom rather than trying to go back to your daily activities all at once.
Patients in this study will be followed for five years.