Some long-term COVID patients suffering from symptoms such as fatigue and shortness of breath are showing signs of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, a Canadian study suggests, building on similar findings elsewhere.
Manali Mukherjee, who led the study and is a respiratory researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, said two specific abnormal antibodies, or autoantibodies, which attack healthy tissue and are known to cause autoimmune diseases, persisted in 30% of patients one year later. they became infected
The research was based on blood samples from patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between August 2020 and September 2021 and who received care at two hospitals in Vancouver and one in Hamilton.
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Persistence of autoantibodies for a year or more points to the need for patients to see a specialist who can test for signs of autoimmune disease, he said of conditions that also include type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
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“If you have lingering COVID symptoms, even 12 months after you’ve had COVID, consider getting a rheumatologic workup, just to make sure there’s not a trajectory toward systemic disease,” Mukherjee said.
The study, which also involved Dr. Chris Carlsten of the University of British Columbia’s division of respiratory medicine, was published Thursday in the European Respiratory Journal and involved 106 patients.
The work supports emerging research on long-term COVID, which mostly affects women, Mukherjee said.
A study of 300 patients published earlier this year in the journal Cell by US researchers was the first to show that autoantibodies among those infected with the virus can lead to long-term symptoms of COVID, but it was limited to three or four months after recovery. , Mukherjee said.
2:19 Public health officials trying to determine total number of Canadians with long-term COVID Public health officials trying to determine total number of Canadians with long-term COVID – June 3, 2022
A Swiss study of 90 patients published last April in the journal Allergy suggested that autoantibodies may be present a year after infection in 40% of patients.
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“But this study confirms the presence of specific autoantibodies and is further associated with persistence of fatigue and shortness of breath, two core symptoms of long-term COVID, at 12 months,” he said.
Mukherjee, who contracted COVID for a long time in January 2021 after starting her research into the disease, said she experienced fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches and brain fog.
“The headaches used to be really bad and they would come back. You’ll be fine and all of a sudden you’ll crash,” she said, adding that she’s back to 75 percent of her usual energy level, but has learned to prioritize her health over working long hours and making sure you get enough sleep.
Mukherjee is studying long-term COVID patients for two years to see how their autoantibody levels change over the long term.
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Calgary resident Sarah Olson said that for a long time, COVID has prevented her from returning to her job as a kindergarten teacher since contracting the disease in January 2021.
“There’s no such thing as moving on. You just get sicker and sicker in new ways,” said Olson, who has a nine-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter and deals with brain fog, fatigue, lack of shortness of breath and other symptoms.
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“Until this spring I couldn’t stand for long, but I could walk at a moderate pace. Now, I can’t do it anymore. I need a walker. I’ll be 41 this Saturday and I need a walker.”
Olson said he has also been diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, although Mukherjee said a definitive link between that long-term, debilitating condition and long-term COVID has not been established.
Olson said the main concern is that he will never recover from a long COVID.
“If I’m not able to control my symptoms by resting and walking as much as I need to without ever stressing, I have every reason to believe that I would continue to get worse,” she said through tears.
“Research needs to make a breakthrough because they’re still trying to understand what the underlying cause is,” Olson said, adding that could mean treatment options are a long way off.
“We’re almost three years in and we’re still in the dark in a lot of ways.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press