Fears that Long COVID patients might end up with long-term, potentially deadly lung scarring are unfounded, a new study concludes.
To find out, the UVA Health team tracked the lung health of 16 people who'd been hospitalized with severeSome of these symptoms continued even after they'd been discharged from the hospital, a sign that Long COVID had set in.
Six months later, some patients' lungs had recovered, while others continued to suffer lung trouble, includingBlood tests that tracked levels of immune cells called monocytes were found useful in predicting whose lungs would recover and whose wouldn't, the researchers said.
There was more good news from the study: The kind of damage that COVID and Long COVID appear to inflict on immune cells is very different from that seen among patients with pulmonary fibrosis, the researchers said.“Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is progressive and kills patients within three to five years,” noted lead researcher Dr. Catherine Bonham.
“We are excited to find that people with long-haul COVID have an immune system that is totally different from people who have lung scarring that doesn't stop,” Bonham said. “This offers hope that even patients with the worst COVID do not have progressive scarring of the lung that leads to death.”“We are only beginning to understand the biology of how the immune system impacts pulmonary fibrosis,” Bonham said.Find out more about idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at the American Lung Association.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Leaky Blood Vessels: Underlying Cause of Long COVID “Brain Fog” DiscoveredScience, Space and Technology News 2024
Read more »
The blood holds clues to understanding long COVIDA growing cadre of labs are sketching out some of the molecular and cellular characters at play in long COVID, a once-seemingly inscrutable disease.
Read more »
Low Blood Iron Levels Might Contribute to Long COVIDLong COVID might be triggered by low iron levels in the blood from the person’s initial infection, a new study claims.
Read more »
Long COVID brain fog may be due to damaged blood vessels in the brainMRI scans of long COVID patients with brain fog suggest that the blood brain barrier may be leaky.
Read more »
Adam Joseph donates blood for second time at Red Cross blood driveYou can also help save lives at the 6abc Philly Blood Drive on March 27, 2024, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Read more »
Heart Attack Alert: How a Standard Blood Test Could Save Your LifeScience, Space and Technology News 2024
Read more »