Long-term Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Introduction
Covid-19 pandemic has become one of the major health crises in the world today. The immediate effects that have been felt are high mortality rates and economic constraints in almost every country. It is believed that even though the virus will be managed at some point, there are long-term effects that will continue to affect the world. As at now, researchers say that it is not yet the right time to point out the long term effects of the disease because it is still at its early stage. The paper will discuss a few of these long-term effects, including their expected impacts.
Patients suffering from the coronavirus are likely to develop other serious complications. Presently, the patients have blood clots, and this is likely to lead to heart attacks, stroke, and embolisms. According to the researchers, younger patients with Covid-19 have suffered from a stroke. This is expected to increase in the coming years because of the virus’s recurrence (Morlacco, Motterle & Zattoni, 2020). Blood clots tend to move all over the body to other organs, and in most cases, pulmonary embolisms are caused by the blockage of circulation to the lungs. Also, renal failure is caused by blood clots in the kidneys, and this leads to long-term complications in the patient (Parshley, 2020). This is a severe issue, and researchers are currently trying hard to study more about the long-term effects to identify ways of managing them. Overall, it is essential to do more research on the Covid-19 pandemic and control its spread to avoid the long-lasting consequences due to the development of more chronic diseases.
Covid-19 is likely to affect the patient’s nervous system. Researchers and scientists have found out that Covid-19 patients have shown signs of drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, and compromised consciousness. Patients who were at critical stages of the disease elicited the above symptoms, and researchers point out that these may take a long-term toll on the patients even after recovery. Research on severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) shows that the neurologic symptoms are not seen at the onset of the disease but rather occur three or four weeks down the line (Parshley, 2020). The nervous symptoms can be detrimental to the life of the patient, especially younger children, on teenagers who are still on the different stages of development. Therefore, doctors must be aware of these symptoms and the long-term effects on the nervous symptoms of Covid-19 patients (Morlacco, Motterle & Zattoni, 2020). Some of the red lights to watch out for are decreased memory and immobility of limbs as a result of impairment in the peripheral nerves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, health experts and physicians posit that as at now, it is quite difficult to highlight all the long-term effects of the Covid-19 because they are still struggling with the short-term impacts. More time and studies are thus needed to reach a conclusion and also to comprehend the different complications that patients are likely to face on their journey to recovery. The article has discussed some of the expected long-term effects on the patients, but the sad truth is, each day, there are new complications. Therefore the only way to know the actual long-term results is to give the entire process time, and the researchers are the ones to play a significant role.
References
Morlacco, A., Motterle, G. & Zattoni, F. (2020). The multifaceted, long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on urology. Nat Rev Urol, 17, 365–367 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-020-0331-y
Parshley, L. (2020). The emerging long-term complications of Covid-19 explained. https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21251899/coronavirus-long-term-effects-symptoms