RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has conducted some recent research that sheds further light on the factors that contribute to the development of Long COVID syndrome.
Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis released the results, which further study the link between Long COVID and blood clotting.
Long COVID syndrome is a large collection of symptoms that can remain for several months after the initial infection with COVID-19. Some of the symptoms that are included in this collection are shortness of breath, weariness, and impaired physical fitness. It is not completely understood why these symptoms continue to occur in some people but not in others, and the unique illness continues to present a significant clinical problem for both patients and their treating medical professionals.
Researchers at RCSI researched individuals in Ireland who had symptoms of Long COVID in order to get new knowledge of what causes Long COVID. They discovered that the blood-clotting and immunological systems of the body can stay tipped out of balance for a significant amount of time after the initial illness has cleared up.
Blood samples were taken from fifty patients diagnosed with Long COVID syndrome and analyzed by a team of researchers led by Professor James O’Donnell from the RCSI School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, with Dr. Helen Fogarty serving as a Clinical Fellow. The patients’ samples were collected up to twelve weeks after they had been infected with the COVID-19 virus. They contrasted the blood in the samples with “control” blood, which was taken from individuals who were healthy and did not have Long COVID syndrome.
According to the findings of the study, patients with Long COVID syndrome exhibited higher amounts of von Willebrand Factor (VWF), which is a blood-clotting booster, and lower levels of ADAMTS13, a protein that typically breaks down VWF. Both of these factors were discovered in the patient’s blood. According to the results of their study, patients with Long COVID had abnormally high levels of certain immune system cells, and blood vessels showed signs of continuing to be injured even after an extended period of time had passed since the initial infection.
