Abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, and swelling are some of the symptoms often reported by patients suffering from long-term COVID. A new large study shows that patients with COVID-19 are significantly more likely to experience problems with the gastrointestinal tract a year after the disease than those who are not infected with coronavirus.

A study published yesterday in the scientific journal Nature Communications compared the medical records of 154,068 COVID patients and 5.6 million citizens who did not contract the virus. COVID survivors were 36% more likely to report long-term gastrointestinal problems after recovery, with many experiencing digestive, bowel, pancreatic, or liver problems.

The most common diagnosis for these patients includes digestive disorders such as excess acid production. “The dysfunction causes a large imbalance in acid production,” says study leader Dr. Ziad al-Ali, an epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Many patients who become ill in 2020-2021 suffer from indigestion, constipation or diarrhea.

inflammation

Serious inflammations, such as acute pancreatitis, affect a much smaller proportion of patients, but remain more common in those who contract COVID than in those who escape the virus. People with long-term COVID illnesses are also more likely to experience symptoms such as constipation, abdominal pain, or diarrhea.

The study was conducted on a sample of patients who contracted COVID during the first phase of the pandemic, between March 2020 and January 2021, prior to the widespread introduction of vaccines. However, Dr Al Ali warns that the situation may be different for those infected with fresh strains of the virus, although some studies show that vaccines reduce the risk of developing long-term symptoms of COVID. The scientific team believes that long-term problems with the gastrointestinal tract may be related to a protein in the small intestine to which the virus attaches. Scientists believe that even after recovery, “fragments” of the virus remain in the intestine, mobilizing the immune system and causing inflammation.

However, Dr. Al Ali is optimistic about other symptoms of long-term COVID. While some of these, such as fatigue and confusion, may be resistant to treatment, stomach and intestinal problems are treatable. “While there is no single cure for these symptoms, an accurate diagnosis can help a patient manage stomach issues with traditional treatments,” he says.