Long Coronavirus symptoms: Study suggest women have more symptoms than men; here are the common signs experienced by men and women

Witnessing signs of COVID-19 long after the initial infection has been a common scenario after all the three waves of coronavirus. People suffering from mild or severe infections may have to deal with its unpleasant symptoms for weeks or even months. From brain fog to hair fall, long COVID can lead to a range of symptoms and bother people of all age groups. But according to a new study, women may have to deal with more post-recovery symptoms as compared to their male counterparts.

A report published in the latest edition of the monthly peer-reviewed Journal of Women's Health revealed that women are more likely to exhibit symptoms like difficulty in swallowing, fatigue and chest pain at long-term follow-up compared to men. While it was noticed that women are less prone to developing the infection and have lower chances of mortality than men in the acute phase of COVID-19, however, the researchers of this study have noticed that sex differences may make the situation a little difficult for women post the initial recovery.

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According to the findings of the study, of all the people suffering from long COVID, women were 97 per cent more symptomatic compared to 84 per cent of males. The problem of breathlessness, weakness, thoracic pain, heart palpitations and sleep disturbance are common in women. But there were not many complaints of muscle aches and cough. Apart from this, sleep disturbances were also more frequent in females, while men tend to lose more weight in the post-infection phase.

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Coronavirus can affect several organs at one time. These signs may appear in any order and may linger for several months. There is no particular way to predict who will suffer from long COVID and who will not. Here are some other common signs of long COVID:

Fatigue

Breathlessness

Cough

Joint pain

Chest pain

Memory issues

sleep problems

Muscle pain

Palpitations

Loss of smell or taste

Depression or anxiety

Fever

Dizziness

The signs of coronavirus when experienced about 90 days after the initial infection, is termed as long COVID. The signs one may experience may be mild or so severe that they may need to be hospitalised. While there is still a lot to understand about long COVID, data suggest that about 10 per cent to one-third of those infected with coronavirus suffer from long COVID. Researchers are still trying to understand the real cause of the long COVID. There are several theories related to it as per which the signs may show up due to damage from the original infection, lingering reservoirs of virus in the body, residual inflammation and it can be an autoimmune response.