Long-COVID, Metabolic and Endocrine Disease

 

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Abstract

In the aftermath of the corona pandemic, long-COVID or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome still represents a great challenge, and this topic will continue to represent a significant health problem in the coming years. At present, the impact of long-COVID on our health system cannot be fully assessed but according to current studies, up to 40% of people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 suffer from clinically relevant symptoms of long-COVID syndrome several weeks to months after the acute phase. The main symptoms are chronic fatigue, dyspnea, and various cognitive symptoms. Initial studies have shown that people with overweight and diabetes mellitus have a higher risk of developing long-COVID associated symptoms. Furthermore, repeated treatment of acute COVID-19 and long-COVID with steroids can contribute to long-term metabolic and endocrine disorders. Therefore, a structured program with rehabilitation and physical activity as well as optimal dietary management is of utmost importance, especially for patients with metabolic diseases and/or long-COVID. Furthermore, the removal of autoantibodies and specific therapeutic apheresis procedures could lead to a significant improvement in the symptoms of long-COVID in individual patients.

Publication History

Received: 16 March 2022

Accepted after revision: 06 April 2022

Accepted Manuscript online:
20 June 2022

Article published online:
09 August 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

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