Long COVID Should Not Be Underestimated

Over this year, I have seen, one after another, about ten patients who died from long COVID. Almost all died of sudden cardiac death—cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, or cor pulmonale—too suddenly to be rescued. On hospital imaging, most showed a white lung. There were reasons these patients collapsed: almost all had various symptoms beforehand—fatigue, or tachycardia, or palpitations, or dyspnea—yet they still forced themselves to stay up late or work or exercise at high intensity, until sudden death became inevitable.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus damages the respiratory and circulatory systems most severely. Patients with prior COPD are more susceptible to worsening from the virus. The most common long-COVID symptoms are tachycardia, dyspnea, difficulty expectorating phlegm, fatigue, and depression. Patients' cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and pulmonary arteries are prone to blockage, and this is why they die. A minority of patients, after developing long COVID, see their working capacity markedly decline, seriously affecting work and life.

Unfortunately, to date there are not many treatments proven effective for long COVID. Israeli researchers have found that the great majority of long-COVID patients recover after one year, but about 1% of long-COVID patients find it very hard to recover. Moreover, as the pandemic has receded, the research funding various countries pour into long COVID has fallen, and the pace of research progress is worrying.

I once tried to treat long COVID, but unfortunately, after trying many methods with no particularly good results, I gave up on the research, feeling it is even harder to treat than cancer.

We must cherish our bodies. If we feel life pressure is high or work intensity is heavy, we should adjust our life situation and avoid overexertion as much as possible.