SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Nearly three years into the pandemic and scientists are still trying to determine why some people get long COVID-19 and some don't.
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Strides have been made in the last few years, especially in the last six months, but there is still a long way to go in narrowing down the most likely cause.
"There are a variety of hypotheses as to why people develop long COVID-19, but we haven't really focused in and found one or even a few that clearly explain why people suffer from this," said Dr. John Swartzberg, a clinical professor of medicine with UC Berkeley on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" with Eric Thomas on Tuesday.
However, it is more clear now who is more likely to get long COVID-19, such as those who are older or suffer from underlying health conditions, or are overweight.
"But that doesn't mean that very young people can't get it," he said. "Certainly see it in the pediatric age group."
Women are also more likely to suffer from long COVID-19 than men, although the exact reason why is still not known.
"We do know that women have more autoimmune diseases than men and it may be that their immune system response more likely with an autoimmune attack on other tissue that precipitates long COVID-19," Swartzberg.
Those are just some of the risk factors that can cause long COVID-19. Another major one is if a person suffers an acute case of COVID-19 they are more likely to get long COVID-19. But people with mild cases still come down with it.
"None of these associations are sufficient to explain or give us complete insight into why people develop this entity," said Swartzberg.
The symptoms also cover a wide range. People who are still sick after three months since their initial illness, they have long COVID-19.
People often experience fatigue, over a large spectrum. Joint or muscle pain is another common symptom, as well as shortness of breath.
"What people describe as brain fog is extremely common," he said. "Where you’re just not as sharp as you were before."
These symptoms are not only vague to the patient, but they're also difficult to describe to the physicians treating them.
One hypothesis for the wide range of symptoms could be that there isn’t just one cause of long COVID-19, that there are multiple factors.
"It really demands that physicians just listen carefully to their patients," said Swartzberg. "Listen to the story that people have."
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