Thread by @LondonOntarioCA

Nearly a year into the global coronavirus pandemic, scientists, doctors and patients are beginning to unlock a puzzling phenomenon: For many patients, including young ones who never required hospitalization, Covid-19 has a devastating second act (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

For many patients “the disease itself is not that bad,” but symptoms like memory-lapses and rapid heart-rate sometimes persist for months. “I haven’t really seen any other illness that affects so many different organ-systems in so many different ways” (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

Zijian Chen of the Mount Sinai Center for Post-Covid Care described colleagues who were energetic, but after getting sick, had trouble getting through the day. He said he has seen up close how Covid-19 still affects their ability to do things they love (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

Many patients report issues with concentration and memory, sometimes referred to as “brain fog.” Some say they forget what they’re trying to say or do. Neurologists seeing such patients say cognitive problems are among the most common symptoms (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

Some neurologists say they are seeing patients with signs of dysautonomia, or dysregulation of the autonomic nervous-system. The autonomic nervous-system regulates involuntary functions such as breathing, digestion and heart-rate (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

Many patients experience a racing heartbeat—or tachycardia—as well as extreme blood-pressure changes. Physicians think this could be an issue with the autonomic nervous-system, which deals with involuntary functions like heart-rate and blood-pressure (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

Many patients also report persistent fatigue weeks or months after coming down with Covid-19, even when they had a mild or moderate course of illness & didn’t require hospitalization. It can be debilitating and get in the way of regular daily activities (wsj.com/articles/docto…).

The #majority of the Long-Covid patients at the Mount Sinai Center for Post-Covid Care appear to have developed a dysautonomia-like condition. About 90% of such patients report having symptoms of exercise intolerance, fatigue and elevated heartbeats (wsj.com/articles/docto…).