Researchers are still learning and discovering what happens after a COVID-19 infection and what recovery might look like. Research shows that 4% to 7% of those infected with the virus worldwide have been found to have “long-lasting COVID” symptoms – struggling to find the right words, forgetting key topics or struggling with confusion known as brain fog. Some sense ghostly smells of rotting meat or smoke, known as ghosting. Long-term COVID can also include general fatigue and is linked to strokes. Elaine Cha / Public Radio St. Louis Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly is a clinical epidemiologist at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and at Washington University School of Medicine. On Wednesdays St. Louis in the air, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine, director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and chief of research and development at the St. Louis Veterans Health System, said the medical community owes much to patients who share their recovery stories. from COVID – even when their doctors wouldn’t listen or know any better. “I remember very vividly, very early in the pandemic… reading one op-ed piece by Fiona Lowenstein to the New York Times saying that, “Everyone told me at the time that if I was young and healthy, if I had COVID-19, I would be over it in a few days, maybe a week, and I would be back to health. And yet, here I am. I still have lingering fatigue and shortness of breath and brain fog.” Al-Aly credits the Patient-Led Research Collaborative and other long-standing support groups for COVID patients with chronicling their recovery. Now researchers are able to knowledgeably link long-term COVID experiences with legitimate medical findings. At the same time, Al-Aly lamented the gaslighting many patients faced in getting treatment, or even having their doctors acknowledge that their symptoms are real. Long-term COVID “is real,” he stressed. “Brain volume decreases after infection with SARS-CoV 2. There are structural changes that can occur in the brain. When people say to me, ‘Oh, it’s just in their head,’ it’s actually true!” For more on the long COVID, listen to Dr. Zayid Al-Aly at St. Louis in the air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or by clicking the play button below. Long COVID is on your mind… and it’s very real “St. Louis in the air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Is it Norfleet?, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wizendowski and Alex Heuer. Avery Rogers he is our production assistant. The sound engineer is Aaron Doerr.
