Including male infertility and kidney failure .. 7 complications of the corona virus may be permanent

Dr.. Osama Abu Al-Rub

What are the long-term effects of infection of the emerging coronavirus, which causes Covid 19? Are some of them without recovery?

Day in and day out, we learn more about the emerging coronavirus and new data that were previously unknown. This is because up to 80% of people who have been infected with the virus do not show symptoms, or they develop symptoms after days or even weeks after infection. Many of these people will have a mild form of the disease, without permanent symptoms and complications.

The World Health Organization says that people with mild cases of "Covid 19" can recover within two weeks, and those who suffer from serious conditions can expect to recover within three to six weeks.

Nevertheless, doctors say that the new Corona virus can be linked to human cells in many parts of the body, and penetrate into many major organs, including the heart, kidneys, brain, and even blood vessels, so this opens the door to asking whether infection with the virus leads to permanent complications. On the person.

He and other experts are concerned that some people with coronas will suffer from long-term damage or damage, including lung scars, heart damage, and neurological and mental effects, says cardiologist Joseph Y Brennan, a cardiologist at the Yale University School of Medicine.

The UK National Health Service assumes that among the Corona patients who need hospitalization, 45% will need continuous medical care, 4% will require rehabilitation, and 1% will permanently need intensive care.

The following are some of the complications that may persist in the long term in people who have been infected with the Coronavirus, whether children or adults:

1- Lung scarring
In this case, lung scarring such as scarring, and the risk here, is that it cannot be repaired. Scar tissue reduces the ability of the lungs to absorb and treat air into oxygen for blood. A persistent feeling in the lungs and dry cough occurs in the person.

Brennan says such symptoms occur because the SK virus creates a severe immune response, so the voids in the lungs are filled with pus, making the lungs less flexible.

In computerized tomography exams, normal lungs should appear black, but lungs of patients "Covid 19" often contain gray spots called "ground-glass opacities" that may not be recoverable.

Ali Ghulam Razani Zaid, a radiologist at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Ali Ghulam Rezani, told Fox that these tissue changes could permanently damage.

2- Stroke and blood clotting
Many of the "Coffed 19" patients who entered the hospital suffer from unexpectedly high rates of blood clots, and this can cause lung obstruction, strokes, heart attacks and other complications with serious and lasting effects.

And blood clots that form in or reach the brain can cause stroke. Although strokes appear more common in elderly people, strokes are now reported even in young Corona patients. For example, in Wuhan, China, about 5% of hospitalized patients had strokes, and a similar pattern was reported with SARS.

In young people with strokes, death rates are relatively low compared to older people, and many people recover. But studies show that only 42 to 53% are able to return to work. 

3- Heart damage
Doctors believe that the viral particles of the emerging corona virus may cause inflammation of the heart muscle in particular, as the heart contains many ACE2 receptors, which scientists have identified as an entry point for the emerging corona virus (whose scientific name is SARS Cove 2). ).

"Doctors in China have noticed that some people come with chest pain," said Mitchell Elkind, president of the American Heart Association and a professor of neuroscience and epidemiology at Columbia University. .

Reports indicate that the emerging coronavirus may directly cause acute myocarditis and heart failure.

4- Kidney failure
so far There have been no reports of corona virus causing kidney damage in cases where the disease is accompanied by mild or moderate symptoms. For those who develop severe symptoms, doctors found that the virus causes severe damage to the kidneys.

In severe cases of corona's disease, blood clots faster, which may lead to small clots causing the blood vessels to block.

This may also happen in the kidneys, which some experts call "small clots in kidney tissue". In addition, there is scientific evidence that the virus may attack the kidneys directly.

In the event that corona patients have pneumonia and need respiration, the matter affects the kidneys in a significant way. The pneumonia caused by corona leads to a large pool of water around the lungs.

In this case, the doctors give the patient diuretics to help withdraw fluid from the body, which requires the kidneys to work more than normal, while you suffer from low blood flow due to small clots, which speeds up the failure of their work.

"Nearly all of Corona's patients, who had pneumonia and had to have a respiratory system, also had kidney problems," Jan Kristoff Gallah, president of the German Society of Nephrology, told SPIEGEL magazine.

This damage appears in the results of kidney function tests that reveal a change in some proportions, which means that the kidneys cannot fully perform their functions.

"The blood and protein samples were monitored in the urine in half of the cases that entered the hospital, which is an early indication of damage to the kidneys," Alan Klegger, a kidney disease specialist at Yale University School of Medicine, told the Washington Post.

Severe complications were recorded in 14 to 30% of these cases in New York and in Wuhan, China, to the extent that these patients needed dialysis, according to Kliger.

5- Neurological and mental
effects “Covid 19” also affects the central nervous system, with possible long-term consequences. In one study from China, more than a third of 214 people were hospitalized who had neurological symptoms, including dizziness, headache, poor awareness and vision. Weak taste, smell, and nerve pain during illness.

Corona's long-term complications (whether caused by the virus itself or the inflammation it causes) can include decreased attention, concentration, and memory, as well as a defect in the peripheral nerves that feed the arms, legs, and fingers.

6- Male infertility
Researchers suggest that "Covid 19" may lead to special problems for men. Researcher Ali Raba explained in a letter to the International Journal of Urology that the testes contain a large number of angiotensin-converting enzyme receptors 2. He wrote, "There is a theoretical possibility of damage to the testicle and subsequent infertility after Covid 19 infection."

A study also showed that in 81 men with corona, there were problems with male hormone levels, which could indicate fertility problems.

"After recovering from Covid 19, young people who are interested in having children should get advice about their fertility," said a research paper published in the journal Nature last April.

7- Sense of smell and taste
A sudden loss or sense of smell can be a symptom of infection with the Corona virus. Young people are more likely to carry the virus without other symptoms such as fever and coughing, and this means that anyone with a sudden loss of sense of smell can be a hidden carrier of the virus.

Corona virus is believed to enter nasal tissue through the receptor of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is abundant in the nose, and may cause temporary damage to olfactory nerves. However, this damage appears to improve within one to two weeks after the onset of the disease.

Although most people who report these symptoms regain their sense of smell, it is still too early to know how many people can permanently experience a loss of smell.