Thread by @elisaperego78

#LongCovid comes with a rich palette of biomarkers i.e. measurable biological indicators of disease. Not everyone has necessarily the same, especially on simple tests, and not everyone has access to very sophisticated imaging. But the abnormalities are there, and well documented

To learn about biomarkers in #LongCovid, scrolling down the rich literature, and even the patient reports shared on this platform, will suffice. Don't get me wrong. I repeat. Not everyone will come back from the doctor with a positive test. Not everyone has access to top tests

But biological abnormalities in #LongCovid are well documented across the patient population, with variations across individuals. We have abnormal pulmonary tests and imaging after Covid pneumonia and prolonged lung pathology e.g.

bbc.com/news/health-60…

We have coagulopathy and thrombotic sequelae i.e. abnormalities in how your blood clots. These have been documented by a large number of independent scientific studies and by the patient community themselves while in medical settings

frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

There are new-onset diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia post covid. These are all measurable anomalies, and well documented in research studies and by patients themselves, who often share these data in online communities

thelancet.com/journals/landi…

mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2…

There are, in #LongCovid, multiple cardiac abnormalities and sequelae, including heart failure, myocarditis, pericarditis, etc. All are well documented in studies, including based on imaging

valentinapuntmann.com/long-covid-and…

nature.com/articles/s4159…

#LongCovid doesn't spare the liver, with multiple studies documenting liver injury and anomalies down the disease line, including in children. Tests like imaging and even bloodwork are significant

news-medical.net/news/20221201/…

journals.lww.com/jpgn/Abstract/…

Kidney are among the organs that can be affected in #LongCovid. Again, there are tests that can address your kidney function and kidney problems are well documented scientifically in Long Covid

journals.lww.com/jasn/fulltext/….

PoTS or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome has also been widely documented in #LongCovid and in other diseases, and can be assessed and diagnosed

frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Among prolonged lab abnormalities seen in #LongCovid is lymphopenia i.e low white cells called lymphocytes. It can persist in a noticeable percentage of patients in some reported samples, and appears to correlate with the presence of persistent symptoms

nature.com/articles/s4159…

Cerebral hypometabolism in #LongCovid has been documented via for example 18F-FDG brain PET scan

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

This is just a relatively short threads on physical anomalies documented in different cohorts i.e. groups of #LongCovid patients. For those who follow me, I have many other threads with myriads of studies and patient reports on biomarkers in Long Covid.

I repeat, not everyone has access to all these tests. And not everyone will be positive for the same tests. Some will not have a positive test because imaging and bloodwork analyses aren't powerful enough to show pathology, especially on routine tests

But, overall there are thousands of studies that show biological abnormalities in covid survivors down the disease line. Especially in a research setting, #LongCovid is a disease which is increasingly well characterized scientifically.

A lot of this research has been initially spearheaded by patients, who started to report their prolonged covid illness on this very platform in early to mid 2020, and still contribute to research and science communication to this day. My gratitude to the #LongCovid community