10 health complications seen after COVID infection: Here's what research studies have found

COVID's after effect is as debilitating for a human body as the infection itself. The infection, which begins as a respiratory problem leaves traces on major body organs like heart, kidney, lungs and even stomach and lingers weeks, months and years after the due course of infection gets over.

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Several researchers have worked on the effect of COVID on important organs of the body and have found that the virus does have an impact that needs proper medical care to get rid of.

It won't be wrong to say that almost every individual who has had COVID infection goes through a lengthy phase of fatigue.

The infection drains out an individual of its energy and sometimes even carrying out daily tasks seems a problem.

After being overlooked for a long time, fatigue was finally considered as one of the most serious after effects of COVID.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) lists it one of the main health complications following a COVID infection.

The impact of COVID on the neuropsychiatric health of the body is less discussed. However, neuropsychiatric symptoms like headache, attention disorder, anosmia, brain fog are seen in patients after recovering from the infection.

These complications remain with the individual for a longer duration and due to less awareness around these signs people often end up in confusion and frustration.

Ever since the pandemic started, cases of heart diseases have gone up and it is shocking to note that most of the deaths related to heart issues are occurring in young people.

While it is difficult to ascertain whether the incidence of heart complications is independent of COVID or is dependent on it, the effect of the virus on heart health can not be ruled out.

Heart cells have angiotensin-converting enzyme receptors which facilitates the entry of the virus. This makes the heart a perfect breeding ground for the virus and impairs its functioning. As per a Nature report, "people who had recovered from COVID-19 showed stark increases in 20 cardiovascular problems over the year after infection."

A study says, the risk of heart failure increased by 72%, or around 12 more people in the COVID-19 group per 1,000 studied.

Chest pain, shortness of breath and palpitations are commonly seen in people after a COVID infection.

Lung complications like pneumonia is a big possibility and risk as well. Experts at John Hopkins say, COVID-19 can cause lung complications such as pneumonia and, in the most severe cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. Sepsis, another possible complication of COVID-19, can also cause lasting harm to the lungs and other organs.

On the newer variants of the virus, which is a major reason of headache for the health experts, the John Hopkins experts say newer coronavirus variants may also cause more airway disease, such as bronchitis, that may be severe enough to warrant hospitalization.

In pneumonia the lungs fill with fluid and limit the ability of the lungs to take in oxygen. The common symptoms are shortness of breath, cough and fatigue.

The effect of COVID on stomach health needs more attention than before. Several symptoms of COVID are associated with the digestive system. Symptoms like sudden change in bowel movement, abdominal pain and loss of appetite have been associated with COVID, ever since the beginning of the pandemic.

Given the large number of cases where stomach related symptoms are seen in COVID patients, it can be rightly said that digestive issues are a hallmark sign of COVID>

Though the rate of incidence is less, but studies have established a link between skin rashes and COVID.

People with unexplained skin rashes can definitely consider it as a sign of COVID.

The common types of skin rash seen during COVID are eczema near neck and chest, oral rash, papular and vesicular rashes, pityriasis rosea, purpuric or vasculitis rashes, urticarial rash, and viral exanthem.

In 2020, after examining more than 400 patients with COVID in Wuhan Union Hospital, China researcher Dr Ling Qin (LQ) had claimed that ARDS develops in 42% of patients presenting with COVID‐19 pneumonia, and 61–81% of those requiring intensive care.

ARDS is considered a big threat if the COVID pneumonia progresses. In this people are unable to breathe on their own and may need to rely on ventilator support. ARDS often leads to lung failure.

Dyspnea or shortness of breath is a very common sign of COVID. People often complain of puffing and gasping for breath even after doing small tasks.

The impact of COVID on the heart and lungs can be an explanation to why an individual experiences breathing issues during and after the infection.

Shortness of breath makes the person more tired and also disturbs the daily activity of the individual to a large extent.

COVID associated body pain is immensely painful. During and after the infection many people experience excruciating pain in the muscles and in the joint region.

In some people the pain is quite dull and some feel it as episodes of pangs. A lingering body pain is definitely a lot to tolerate at times and when it specifically affects daily life it becomes a reason to worry about.

To sum it up, long COVID is what the entire globe is working on to decode. The long term effect of COVID is currently being researched upon and several theories have come forward.

As per a systematic review and meta analysis done by Nature, more than 50 long term effects of COVID are seen. "People with post COVID-19 condition, also known as “long COVID”, may have difficulty functioning in everyday life. Their condition may affect their ability to perform daily activities such as work or household chores," the WHO says.